


Sunshine

by ServantOfMischief



Series: Three Troublemakers [1]
Category: Tokyo Ghoul
Genre: AU, First friendship, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, I don't know how to do smut, Lime, Multi, Trust, We'll get to the fluff, an attempt at fluff, slightly nsfw later on
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-08
Updated: 2018-06-29
Packaged: 2019-05-04 01:11:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 44,579
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14581656
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ServantOfMischief/pseuds/ServantOfMischief
Summary: It would be a shame to let the bastards get away with their rough treatment of the girl, almost as much as it would be to force himself to drink the god-awful coffee in his hands.





	1. Let's Run

**All characters from Tokyo Ghoul belongs to Ishida Sui. This is an AU without the Clowns and the tragedies they play a part in.**

* * *

 

The fourth ward is one of the shadiest parts of Tokyo. Despite being so close to the CCG headquarters, there’s a lot of ghoul activity and it is by no means a place for children, ghouls or humans alike. Cannibalism happens every day and if you’re weak or let your guard down for just a heartbeat you’ll wind up as someone’s dinner, or perhaps become prey to a darker danger.

 

Uta dislikes the fourth ward, but it’s where he fits in the best. No one here asks questions about a teenager being able to beat the shit out of full grown adults twice his size. No one thinks it’s shady when a teenager walks around with shades even in the middle of the night, because in all honesty, the fourth ward is the shittiest ward in all of Tokyo where no one cares about anyone but themselves. The blonde takes a sip of his coffee, grimacing at the terrible flavour. He’ll never go to that coffee house again, he tells himself, but knows he will anyway. There’s no other place in the ward where he’ll find a somewhat drinkable beverage, and he’s not about to go searching through the other wards for a decent cup of coffee. He is not that desperate.

 

“Let go of me!” Even though they are out in the open street, no one pays attention to the teenage girl trying to wrestle free from the grip of two adult men. It’s not the first time Uta’s seen a girl being sold and dragged off, but it’s the first time he sees a ghoul girl in such distress, especially someone he’s come across before. Mostly because he’s killed most of the ghouls and humans that have been unfortunate enough to come across his path. She’s vibrant against all the grey around her, her short hair dirty but the peach-red strands stand out against her pale skin and dark environments. Her eyes are nearly the same colour, yet a bit lighter, and they burn fiercely. She’s stubborn, a fighter, he can see it, but her clothes are too big on her and the dark circles around her eyes and hollow cheeks make her look gaunt. She scratches her captors and bites hard enough to tear flesh from bone and their response is to punch her so hard she falls and crack her skull against the cold hard asphalt. For a moment Uta thinks that that’s it, that she’s lost the fight, but she gets up on all fours slowly, sluggishly, and grins up at the men with bloody teeth. She’s not going to break, Uta realizes, and looks down at his coffee, sloshing the liquid back and forth. It’d be a waste to let the bastards get away with their rough treatment of the girl just as much a waste as it would be to force himself to drink up his shitty coffee. Neither of the men notice him as he ambles up to them, though the girl does as they yank her up with bone crushing grips on her arms. He throws the coffee at them and they scream as the scalding liquid burns their eyes.

 

“Oh, so sorry!” Uta exclaims with mock-concern before kicking in one of the men’s kneecap.

 

“I’m awfully clumsy!” The man’s scream echoes and people are finally starting to look, but it’s not much to see, as Uta’s already grabbed the girl by her hand, eyes shining brightly with mirth behind his shades and a boyish grin spread across his face.

 

“Let’s run away.” He doesn’t give her a chance to argue as he sprints into a back-alley, leaving the two wounded ghouls behind before they can start regenerating. Once they reach their destination, after Uta has made double sure they aren’t followed, he throws her onto his back and scales the wall and climbs through a broken window. She tumbles off his back ungracefully when he straightens up and he snickers at the sight. She glares back up at him, filthy, bloody and shivering. There’s no warmth in the abandoned building he has chosen as his temporary home, and in her weakened state her body has no strength to keep up her temperature. He opens his jacket and she eyes him with suspicion as he holds it out for her to take.

 

“What do you want from me?” She demands, and he tilts his head curiously. He had expected a thank you.

 

“Do I have to want something?”

 

“Everyone always wants something. This isn’t the first time I’ve been _saved_.” She spits out and he finds it kind of sad that she is unable to grasp the concept that people can do things for others out of kindness. Well, he’s not used to it either, really… It’d be nice if that changed though.

 

“I’m not particularly hard to please.” He hums as she snatches the jacket out of his hand and wraps it around herself, resigned to do whatever he wants of her, but not at all happy about it. He crouch down in front of her, grinning widely.

 

“How about being my friend, then?”

 

“Hah?” She blinks up at him, not quite comprehending his request. Obviously, she has never been asked something so easy and innocent before, and he has caught her off guard. All she does is gape up at him, eyes wide. It would have been adorable, if it wasn’t for her haunted eyes and dark circles around said organs. She looks more like a corpse than a teenage girl.

 

“It’s lonely being alone. If you’ve got nowhere to go, then stay here with me.” She studies him, peach-coloured eyes taking in every detail before she tilts her head too.

 

“And all I have to do is be your friend? I don’t have to sell myself or play bait for the Doves?” She’s honestly curious and he purse his lips. Uta is far from being the most decent fellow, but even he thinks it’s low to sell girls. Fuck them and eat them is okay, but selling them for personal gain without their consent, not so much. 

 

“Nothing you don’t want to do.” He shakes his head and the glasses almost fall off. He pushes them back in place and watches as she slowly reaches out for him to shake her hand.

 

“If you lie, I’ll kill you.” She promises, a sweet smile upon her bloodied lips which doesn’t reach her eyes. He chuckles at her empty threat and shakes her hand. He feels more bones than flesh.

 

“I’m Uta.”

 

“Itori.” Neither of them offers up a family name, because neither think their family is worth a damn. The building they are in is falling apart, and his futon isn’t any better off. It is all he has to share though, and she doesn’t complain, but she won’t let him get close once they are beneath the sheets. He accepts that though. Friends must respect each other’s boundaries, or at least that book he read had told him so. Still, he goes to sleep, feeling that the world is a bit smaller and a little less lonely.

 

The next morning, he senses that he is alone on his futon even before he opens his eyes. He yawns and turns around, laying eyes on Itori who’s crouched beside him, eyes wide with wonder and his shades secured tightly in her right hand. He doesn't like that.

 

“One-eye.” He freezes, more than a bit unsure of what will happen next, but she tilts her head, voice neutral and not an ounce of disdain.

 

“We’ve met before, haven’t we? I’ve seen a one-eyed ghoul before and that was you, wasn’t it?” He shouldn’t be surprised that she’s connecting the dots so quickly despite his changed hair-colour and that their encounter had been years ago. One-eyed ghouls aren’t exactly running around in abundance.

 

“You looked healthier back then.” And that is as much as an answer he is willing to give her. The corners of her eyes crinkle as she grins at him, clearly pleased with her discovery.

 

“Which means that in all actuality, we’re even, right?” His lips thin into a straight line, but he doesn’t challenge her on it.

 

“Mah, if you still want to be friends, I’ll stay. You gave me a better deal than any other man has given me.” She stands up properly and he notices that she still hasn’t relinquished his jacket.

 

“You got any food?” He shakes his head but tells her to wait. He returns an hour later with two corpses, female, and they gorge themselves on the meat. Itori frowns afterwards at her filthy state, nose wrinkling at the smell, and Uta jingles some keys, grinning mischievously.

 

“They told me where they live, or well, lived.” He offers no explanation as he pulls the purses with him, as she follows him through the back-alleys, hiding in the shadows and avoiding any and all contact with both ghouls and humans alike before the blonde teen stops and points at an apartment block.

 

“Fourth story.” He says simply, and they hurry up the stairs undetected. The apartment they slink into isn’t big nor nice, but few things in the fourth ward are nice. It is still better than what their former building was, and it has water and a bathroom which is a big bonus. They stay at that apartment for a month until the landlord almost breaks down the door, demanding the rent the original owners are late in paying. The two teens are out the window before the human gets in.

 

Uta learns that Itori is a surprisingly good pick-pocket. Through her sticky fingers they manage to save money, along with stealing from their victims. They go through several apartments, take anything of value and selling it to pawn-shops and the like, and soon enough they have enough money to rent their own little apartment. They usually only sleep in it, or at least Uta does, Itori likes staying inside, and bring their victims there.  Uta likes to play, and while Itori didn’t like to watch in the beginning because of personal reasons, she soon finds some sort of enjoyment in it though it takes some time before she manages to sit through a full session. When Uta brings a man home, she stops before entering the room. The door isn’t shut, it’s open enough for her to peek in through the crack but she hears it before she sees it. Moans, loud breaths which don’t belong to Uta can be heard and she freezes in place, fear taking control for a fleeting moment. She bites the inside of her cheek and feels blood fill her mouth, and the spell is broken. She leans forward to glance through the crack and sees Uta on his knees between a man’s legs. She frowns at the sight of the human tangling his hands in Uta’s hair, wrestling the hairband out, letting his hair stick in every which direction. The human pulls, forcing Uta to take more of him into his mouth. She can see Uta’s eyes glance her way behind his shades from the angle the bed is, and she knows he realizes that she is watching even as she haven’t entered. She remembers when men had forced her to pleasure them with her mouth and she had hated it. It was revolting, especially the taste after they had made her swallow. She shakes her head to rid herself of those awful memories, ready to go back to her room when she notices Uta gesturing for her to come in. She doesn’t want to, but he’s not quitting and the human soon realizes that Uta isn’t focused on him anymore. He turns his head and sees her. He whistles, and she grimaces as Uta pulls off with an audible pop and strokes the human with his hands.

 

“Don’t scare her away.” He admonishes with a smirk and Itori scowls as she pushes the door open and enters, accepting his challenge. She’s not scared, it’s just that the scene before her brings out memories she’d rather not face right now. It is uncomfortable and makes her nauseous and she covers her stomach as she leans against the door after closing it. The man groans when Uta puts his member into his mouth again, words dissolving into sounds of pleasure. Itori learned long ago how to know when men were at their limit, and it wasn’t hard to hear that the human is about to tip over the edge. The man grabs Uta’s shades and yank them off, wanting to see the teen’s face when he comes only to freeze at the wide black and red eyes peering up at him. It had been Itori’s idea for Uta to ink his normal eye when she realized he couldn’t deactivate his kakugan even when his stomach was full, so that he can keep it a secret that he was a one-eyed ghoul. The human tries to pull away, but Uta’s clever tongue has already tipped him off the edge, and he is momentarily immobilized by the pleasure coursing through him, but scrabbles to sit up quickly just as Uta’s teeth tear into his flesh and he yanks his head back, cock trapped by his teeth. The human screams as he sees his manhood dangle from Uta’s mouth and Itori gapes at her friend. She had not seen that one coming.

 

“Hungry?” The blonde asks her, pointing his thumb at the writhing human on the bed.

 

“No one will miss him.” Itori allows her eyes to bleed red as well, feeling excitement overshadow the uncomfortable feeling from before. She had tried to bite once, like Uta just did, but she had received a severe beating afterwards. Uta’s never once raised a hand against her, not even when they argue, except for during their sparring sessions. This is just a meal to Uta, a meal he enjoyed in his own twisted way. It is no different than when he brought women home. Itori crawls up onto the ridiculously tall bed, pulls on the human’s hair and exposes his throat, lurching forward and digging her teeth into his windpipe, effectively silencing his screaming. He claws at his bleeding throat and Itori’s blissed expression is the last thing he sees before he finally dies. She digs her teeth into his neck and tears again and again until all that’s left is the blood smeared bones. One human shared by the two of them is not nearly enough, not with them being so young and still growing, but it’ll have to do for tonight.

 

Uta is always snacking on a body part to sate himself, and Itori stores the blood in the refrigerator sometimes, sipping it every time she feels thirsty. It doesn’t do much to sate hunger, but it’s enjoyable nonetheless. Especially the few things she’s learned about rotting blood, that it’s akin to human alcohol if she let it sit long enough. It’s fun to explore the possibilities. Uta’s bed is thoroughly soaked with blood now, the grey sheets turning almost black in the dim lighting. He’ll have to buy a new mattress or be forever tempted and tormented by the heavy smell of blood. Seeing his friend bathe in the liquid of life was more arousing than sucking the man off, but the blonde won’t say that out loud because Itori is still adamantly avoiding any talk of sexual subject. He can only imagine what she went through until he found her on the streets. She is fine with occasionally watching, but he has learned to never speak of the acts nor suggest she finds herself a partner.

 

She is always so curious, almost like she’s surprised the women feel good and he wonders what her bosses made her do.

 

As a friend he should help her, right? Help her overcome whatever trauma she’s suffered? She’s missing a lot of good things, and he wants her to be able to live life to the fullest, because Uta likes Itori. She’s funny and sly and clever, and she’s nice to have around. It’s nice not to be alone anymore. So, he decides to help her ease back into it, and if she decides afterward that she honestly don’t want to enjoy those pleasures, that’s fine too, but at least then she’ll chose on her own and not because someone fucked her life up.


	2. Show them, princess

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Uta attempts to help Itori.

 

 

It starts out with something as simple as nicknames, like princess, doll face, (she hates that one with a passion) sunshine and so on. She is annoyed at first but pays him back with changing from the respectable ‘Uta-san’ to ‘U-chan’, just to see how he likes it. He allows it at first, because he believes it is a step in the right direction. She is getting more comfortable and relaxed around him and that is what he wants. In the end he admits that it grew on him, and that he likes being addressed in such a familiar way. The simple touches like clapping her shoulders, patting her head or holding her hand is the next step. That one is a bit harder to do, because the first time he tried holding her hand after saving her she recoils so bad she almost falls over and he blinks, glancing down at his hand. It isn’t dirty or sweaty, so he doesn’t quite understand the volatile reaction.

 

“ _What_ are you doing?”

 

“Holding your hand? Or at least attempting to?” She stares at him for a long while, cradling her hand to her chest as if it is something fragile that would break should he touch it again before turning around and walking ahead of him. She’s not used to gentle touches, not trusting them at all. It takes a long while before she lets him hold her hand, and even then it’s only for short periods of time before she yanks her hand free and takes a few steps away from him. One day she asks him a question he doesn’t quite know the answer to, because he isn’t all that knowledgeable about friendship and relationships either.

 

“Do friends even hold hands?”

 

“Not sure.” He shrugs. “But we can do it anyway, right?” She allows it after realizing that he has no ulterior motive. When she grows comfortable enough about it she even grabs his. He thinks that it’s a good thing, that it’s helping her and she’s heading in the direction of healing herself, growing more and more confident. He sticks with these small gestures until he thinks he can push her a bit further. A year later he tries. He brings dinner home again, but this time, instead of giving her the option of just watching and joining in when it’s time to eat, he asks her to join from the beginning. Itori freezes in the doorway, feeling sick to her stomach as she watches Uta pull off his t-shirt.

 

“You have a girlfriend?” Dinner asks, Uta can’t quite remember the name the human had offered him when he picked her up. The human who had no trouble following him home suddenly seems quite unsure, and also a bit ashamed. Interesting.

 

“Roommate.” He corrects, tossing the shirt away, standing there in just his jeans while Dinner is only in her underwear. Itori stares for a minute, frozen stiff, her sweats and t-shirt suddenly feeling strangely constricting considering they’re both a size or two too big. She bites the insides of her cheek hard enough to draw blood and the pain releases her from the spell. She rubs her arm uncomfortably, eyes darting left and right, sweat starting to stand out against her skin. She itches and wants to claw at her skin until there’s nothing left to irritate her anymore. Uta notices this, and hurries to speak again.

 

“Or you could just watch, Itori-san.” He gives her a second option. She’s used to watching, she can do that now without feeling unwell, but he’s never said she could join in on the act before the feeding. He caught her off-guard with it, and she feels sick to her stomach, even though she’s learned that he’s not out to hurt her, not out to make her feel bad. She walks to the ridiculously big love-seat Uta had managed to wrestle through his door at one point on shaky legs and plops onto it, pulling her knees up to her chest, making herself as small as possible.

 

“I’ll join you afterwards.” She says quietly, barely loud enough for the human to hear. She’s pretty, really, with straight black hair and pretty green eyes. He wonders about the taste of those eyes.

 

“Afterwards?” Dinner questions, confused, but Uta only smiles charmingly and climbs into the bed, removing the last of her clothing.

 

“Dinner’s on me tonight.” He says, as if that would explain everything, and kisses the woman. Itori watches how he handles the human, the gentle caresses that brings out the small sounds of pleasure from her. She watches how he sucks marks into her skin, her throat, collarbones, down her chest and stomach, and she imagines his teeth tearing the flesh apart, his hands digging through the soft organs inside. She watches as one of his hands slips between the human’s leg and how her back arches prettily. The ginger rubs her thighs together subtly, internally confused and scared that the display before her stirs such a foreign feeling in her. This tingling feeling… she’s never felt it before and she has never wanted to be in a bed where such activities took place, but now she finds a weak urge to join. It’s not so strong an urge that it overrides her mind, but it is there, tickling in the back of her mind. Uta’s nose flares before he turns his head towards her. The human is too far gone to notice that Uta is no longer truly focusing on her but his friend instead.

 

Uta can smell Itori’s arousal and he knows that she can feel desire, and even sexual attraction. Now the question is which one of the two is Itori attracted to right now. The human cries out before slumping onto the mattress and Uta glances back down at her. He never even noticed he had pushed her over the edge. He wipes his hand on his pants before removing the last of his clothing. He pulls the human’s legs around his waist and turns to look at Itori, who is now suddenly standing by the side of the bed. She seems unsure, not quite knowing why she got up from the chair, but he holds out a hand for her to take and helps her up into the bed. By now the human has regained her wits and turns her head to look at Itori, who’s fidgeting uneasily where she lays.

 

“Make my friend feel good, if you’d please.” Uta purrs in the human’s ear and her already flushed cheeks turn darker, but she nods resolutely and turns to lie on her side, so she was facing the female ghoul and Uta straddles one leg while throwing the other over his shoulder. The human stares at Itori, a small smile tugging shyly at her lips. Itori can’t quite bring herself to smile back as she feels kind of nauseous. She keeps chanting in her mind:

 

 _‘This human can’t hurt me, this human cannot hurt me.’_ This human hasn’t paid for her services, and if the ginger kills her Uta won’t punish her for it considering she’s tonights dinner anyway. She keeps on reminding herself of those facts as she tries to calm down her erratically beating heart. Uta can hear the speed of which her heart beats, and he throws the human a small warning.

 

“Be careful.” He tells her, hoping that after this, Itori won’t recoil completely and go back to the state she had been when he found her. He pushes into the human, head lolling back as he groans. Itori look up at him, trying to see any similarities between him and the men she had been sold to in the past, but she can’t. First off, the woman beneath him enjoys the act and he’s slow, taking his time and not just focusing on his own pleasure.

 

“I-is this, ah, your first time?” The human asks her, and the ginger is about to tell her no, but Uta cuts in.

 

“She’s innocent to the pleasures of sex.” In a way he is speaking the truth because she may not be physically innocent anymore, but she’s never known any pleasure through the act.

 

“Tell me w-what feels, ngh, good, okay?” The human instructs her and tugs Itori’s shirt up enough that she can slip her hands beneath it. Her hands dance across Itori’s skin, caressing every inch she can reach, and the ghoul admits to herself that it’s tingling presence is pleasant. Her hands brush the underside of Itori’s breasts and she jolts, every muscle tensing up and Uta pauses his own movements, watching if his friend would bolt or stay. She stays. She stays because she realizes that the human’s hands aren’t grabbing her in a painful way but is squeezing firmly enough and pinching her nipples in a way that makes pleasurable tingles shoot up and down her spine. A moan escapes her, and she claps a hand over her mouth, baffled that such a sound escaped her mouth. Her friend grins reassuringly at her though, and resumes his slow movements, causing the human to mewl in pleasure as well, pausing her hands, distracted.

 

“That’s so good.” She exhales a ragged breath before tugging Itori’s shirt all the way off. The ghoul isn’t ashamed of anyone seeing her naked anymore. It has happened so many times she’s used to it, but the flush over her pale skin is new, and so is the puckered dark flesh on her breast. Her body is reacting in ways it never had before. It is both terrifying and thrilling. The human pulls her closer and ducks her head down, mouth closing around a nipple and she sucks.

 

“O-oh!” She arches closer and a hand tangles in the human’s hair, though she immediately let’s go, remembering how she herself hated it when anyone grabbed her hair. The human pulls off and smiles gently, pulling Itori’s hands back to her head.

 

“I don’t mind. Your name was Itori-san, right?” The ghoul nods.

 

“I’m Shirori, nice to meet you.” Uta rolls his hips in a certain way that makes Shiori bury her face in Itori’s chest to stifle a groan. Itori gasps when Shiori’s mouth attaches itself to her other breast, hands tangling into the black strands and tugging.

 

It’s kind of hard to focus on what he’s supposed to do when there’s girl-on-girl action happening in his bed right in front of him. Uta blames his teenage hormones and shakes his head in an attempt at clearing his mind.

 

“Does it feel good, sunshine?”

 

“Mhm….” Itori mumbles, because it does feel good. And so far, she doesn’t regret joining them on the bed, so long as Uta doesn’t expect her to roll over and spread her legs for him too. One of Shiori’s hands trail downward and into Itori’s sweats and the ghoul freezes, fear spreading through her veins like fire. Uta senses the fear and is about to tell the human to back off, but Shiori is one step ahead of them both. She pushes herself up on her elbow to look Itori in the eyes, resting their foreheads together.

 

“Relax. Tell me to stop and I will.” Itori’s breathing heavily, but swallows.

 

 _‘This human can’t hurt me, this human can’t hurt me.’_  She chants to herself and nods. She waits for the discomfort, for the inevitable pain of fingers jamming into her, but all that greets her is the gentle touch of Shiori’s fingertips on her clit and her hips jerk into the touch.

 

“Ah!” She yelps and looks to Uta, confused. She can see the glow behind the shades as he leans forward.

 

“Are you okay?” She’s not quite sure. She’ not in pain, nor is it uncomfortable, but… Shiori presses more firmly and this time it’s a no-brainer that it’s pleasure sparkling through her.

 

“Itori-san?” Uta asks, letting the human’s leg slip off of his shoulder, a bit worried that the female ghoul may have been pushed too far. Perhaps it had been too soon, or perhaps none of this had been a good idea to begin with, but she just grabs the human by the shoulders and swallows.

 

“A-again.” And Uta watches transfixed as Shiori brings Itori to the edge, watches as her back arches and she mewls loudly, before slumping back onto the bed completely spent. Itori’s peach-coloured eyes are glazed over as she struggles to regain her breath. Uta whistles quietly before pulling the human onto her back and in his lap, aiming to bring them both to completion as well. The show he just watched left him dangerously close to the edge, so he’s quick about tipping Shiori over, and just as he’s about to come he leans forward, teeth gleaming in the dark as he moves towards her throat.

 

Itori’s hand over his mouth stops him.

 

“Not this one.” She mouths, and he stares at her for a moment before nodding. He will let her be in control, because that’s what she needs. Shiori cries out for the second time that night, and that’s the end of it all. Once Itori regains her bearings she pulls her shirt down, her pants up and rolls out of the bed, ignoring Uta’s silent call after her as she hurriedly jogs out of the room. He wonders if he should follow, but a quick glance at the human, who’s also staring after Itori with a frown, he decides it’s best to get her out quickly and speak to his friend afterwards. He slips out of the bed and finds his pants, then picks up all of Shiori’s clothing, of that which he can find that is, and waits for her to get dressed. She’s quick about it, not in a way that makes her look like she’s anxious to get out, but in a way that tells him she understands that her time is up, and he’s got more important things to worry about. He follows her to the door, but she pauses after taking the first step out and turns to level him with a stern stare. He quirks a brow.

 

“You take good care of your friend. She needs support.” And Uta realizes that this human is clever and had an inkling of what could have happened to Itori.

 

“I think you helped her take a great step today, Shiori-san.” He gives credit where it is due. He may have had a part in making Itori feel safe enough to get in the bed, but it was the human Itori had let touch her.

 

“But she trusts you.” Shiori says before leaving. Such an interesting human. Uta locks the door behind her and heads for Itori’s room. The door is tightly shut but he enters easily. Itori already broke he lock during the first week they lived there and never bothered to fix it, and stops beside her bed, staring down at the lump hiding beneath the covers.

 

“We’ll be going hungry tonight.” He says and despite his stomach loudly complaining about the whole situation he doesn’t feel up to going out to find another human.

 

“You okay with that, doll face?” She throws the covers off of herself and glares up at him.

 

“Don’t call me that!” She reacts violently to that nickname, and he finally decides to let go of it and use the others instead. Then she surprises him by pulling him onto the bed, pulling the covers up to their shoulders.

 

“Sleep by my side tonight.” She demands, and he blinks before pulling off his sunglasses and tossing them onto the drawer by the bed.

 

“You haven’t let me do that since the day I saved you.” He comments, but she offers no explanation. All he can see is her narrowed eyes and flushed cheeks.

 

“Does it always feel that good?” She finally asks and he hums an affirmative.

 

“It’s supposed to.” She doesn’t say anything more on the matter, but she does shuffle a bit closer, not to the point of actually physically coming into contact with him, but close enough to feel the heat rolling off of him. He arches an eyebrow in question and she wrinkle her nose in distaste, as if she’s not willing to admit why she suddenly lets him sleep by her side.

 

“In case the nightmares come back.” She finally says after minutes pass, closing her eyes to show that it’s the end of the conversation. She won’t tell him what kind of nightmares it is, nor will she answer if he ask why she is having nightmares in the first place, but he already knows. She never screams, but he has passed by her room one night to hear her whimper and cry quietly. He doesn’t know if having a male in her bed is going to help keep the nightmares away, based on what those very dreams contain, but doesn’t argue. Instead he grabs her hand, so as not to overwhelm her too much when she wakes up the next morning.

 

When he wakes to her shrieking and tossing him out, feeling himself hover in the air before he crashes through the door, he realizes that maybe he should have told her he’s a restless sleeper. He pulls himself up from the wreckage that is the former door to her bedroom and shakes his head.

 

Too late for that now.

 

“Good morning to you too.” Her nose flares and she march past him with a change of clothes, slamming the bathroom door so hard it almost falls off the hinges too. He winces at the loud sound, before turning to look at the mess that had been her door. He has to go get a new one, or else she’ll probably take his. He takes a shower after she’s done and dresses himself to leave the apartment and purchase a new door, only to see Itori wait in the hall.

 

“Hm?”

 

“I need a new door.”

 

“Really?” She purses her lips, apparently still in a bad mood, and he decides not to push her buttons. She had done so incredibly well the other night after all.

 

“Let’s go then.” He’s pleasantly surprised when he grabs her hand and she doesn’t pull it back even when they reach the store, and even held on the entire way back to the apartment. Before they reach the door to the building though, Itori pauses and tugs him back.

 

“Hm? What is it?”

 

“We didn’t get to eat last night.” Indeed, they are both hungry because Itori had asked Uta to let Shiori go. Uta agreed to it because he believed Itori needed to think she was in charge, but he is feeling the effects now. Having walked around humans had been torture, to not just throw everything aside and tear into the nearest meatbag and have his fill... She tells him to wait and jogs away, and he obediently does as told, waiting outside the building for her to return. He waits for nearly an hour before Itori returns with a man whose arm is slung around her shoulder. Even a blind man can see that she’s uncomfortable as she walks with him, and Uta straightens up. She shakes her head subtly, only he notices, the human doesn’t, as he keeps on talking about something, Uta doesn’t know what, doesn’t care. Itori walks past him, smiles uneasily up at the human, and leads him inside. Uta waits for two minutes before following. He can hear them near the third story, their apartment is right by the stairs. He can hear the jingle of keys as he lightly jogs up the stairs, hear the door open and close. He is right behind them, opening the door quietly and slipping in unnoticed.

 

She’s brought the man to her room, and he has taken a seat on her bed. She stands a few feet away from him, and Uta can see from his vantage point how her toes curl, can hear how her heart sounds like a hummingbird in flight, smell the nervous sweat. It’s clear that just because she let a female human touch her, she is not at all comfortable with a male around. The man seems to become rather impatient with Itori, loudly wondering when she’s going to take her clothes off, like she had promised him and Uta finds that he doesn’t like it at all how she nearly folds into herself, not after everything she's accomplished. So he takes a step into the room, gaining both the human and ghoul’s attention.

 

“Show him, Itori-san.” She looks up at him, and he grins wickedly as he strides over to stand beside her, clapping her shoulders.

 

“Show him who’s in charge.” He says quietly so only she can hear, pulling down his shades to show his kakugan. She understands what he means and nods, and he pulls back to watch as her eyes turn as black as the darkest void and red as fresh blood. She turns towards the human again, and watches as he yelps and scrambles backwards. It’s a foolish move, Uta thinks, as the man is moving away from the only exit. Well, the blonde won’t have let him get away anyway. He is dinner after all. He just wish Itori could have found someone who isn’t such a scumbag.

 

“Go on, princess.” He urges when Itori doesn’t move. “You’re the hunter, he’s the prey.”

 

_He can’t hurt you, do as you please, you’re in charge._

And Itori realizes with great joy as she kills the man that she is indeed the one in charge, the one in control. He can’t hurt her, he doesn’t have the power to, no one is forcing her to do anything against her will. Uta won’t hurt her for killing the man, she can hear him chuckle and clap behind her and she turns, bloody and absolutely gorgeous, eyes crinkling and sparkling.

 

She knows.

 

She knows she’s superior.

 

Uta feels proud.


	3. I Am What Now?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I didn't sign up for this bullshit

By now it’s pretty normal that Uta’s hand is latched onto Itori’s when they leave the apartment together. She’s stopped fighting him on it for good as it’s become less bothersome and frightening and more nice and comfortable. His hand is much bigger than hers, and warm and comforting and she feels safe when he’s near. The only times he lets go is when they’re fighting. She still hates the nicknames though but doesn’t argue much on them after he dropped the one she absolutely abhorred. She figures that is as good as it’s going to get, because Uta loves teasing and the more of a reaction she shows, the more he teases, pushes her buttons. She takes the challenge, she can be annoying as hell too if she wants to. It’s their own little private battle.

 

She does occasionally walk out on her own, though those trips are few and far between. If Uta thinks it’s weird, he doesn’t comment on it, because he knows first-hand after sparring with her that Itori is no damsel in distress. She knows how to defend herself and her koukaku is no joke, but she is far too clever to overestimate herself. She can understand immediately when she’s up against someone out of her league.

 

Like she is right now, for instance.

 

She’s outnumbered, six to one, but that isn’t the worst part. She knows these ghouls, have kept hidden from them for over a year. They are the last people she ever wanted to see again and she thinks herself a fool for not suggesting to Uta that they move to another ward when they had the chance. She’s not sure he would have agreed to relocate, but at the very least she should have asked him, thrown the suggestion out there. At least then, if he _had_ agreed, she wouldn’t be facing the current peacemaker of the fourth ward’s right-hand man and his subordinates. A whole year’s effort, she thinks, gone to waste. A whole year of the peacekeeper ignoring her escape, and now he decides to find her? She’s beyond furious, thinking that he should have just continued to ignore her existence. She’s more scared than angry, but she won’t admit that, she can’t admit that, not now.

 

“The boss’ been lookin’ for you.” The group leader sneers, Itori doesn’t recall his name despite it being him who gave the okay to rough her up should she ever be difficult. Which had been very often.

 

“You missed a lot of payments.” She is well aware of that, but if it is such an important matter they shouldn’t have let her run around on her own for an entire year. She licks her lips nervously and takes a few steps back, flinching when her back hit a wall. She presses herself flush against it. Itori knows that if she goes back there, there will be hell to pay and she can’t expect Uta to come running to her rescue when the entire ward’s leadership is her enemy. She never told him who ‘owned’ her and he never pried. She had honestly been a bit worried he’d just up and leave her on the peacemaker’s doorstep if she did tell him.

 

God knows she would have.

 

But she has no intention of going back to the peacemaker of the fourth ward. She’ll either win, or she’ll die.

 

When Uta goes out looking for Itori, considering that she’s taking far too long for just a stroll and isn’t answering her phone, he comes across the alley where he can smell ghoul blood and death. He finds two dead ghouls and several blood splatters on both the walls and concrete ground. He kneels beside one puddle, dipping his fingers in and holding them up to his nose, sniffing.

 

“What have you got yourself into now, sunshine?” He mutters, frowning behind his shades.

 

Said girl is on her knees in front of the peacemaker of the fourth ward, beaten, bloody and severely bruised. She absolutely refuses to look at him, and whether this is from her being defiant or just terrified of looking directly at him she doesn’t know herself. Instead she takes a look around, noting that little had changed while she had been on the run. The man still enjoyed showing off how well he lived. It is kind of disgusting really. She prefers her and Uta’s simple little apartment better, despite it being a bit crowded.

 

“You’ve been gone for some time now, Itori.” She cracks her neck, but still refuses to look at him, eyes moving around the room lazily doing nothing to betray her growing terror. She hears him snap his fingers and the ghoul holding her grabs her chin, forcing her to look at the man sitting on that gaudy throne-like chair, who’s now leaning forward to get a better look at her. She tries to keep herself from flinching back but can’t quite stop the jerk of her body.

 

“Look at me when I talk to you girl. You owe me a lot of money and it’s time you pay up.”

 

“With what money?” She snaps, though instantly regret it when he flashes perfect white teeth at her in a bloodcurdling grin.

 

“As usual, your body will be fitting payment. They’ve missed you on the streets, doll face.” For the second time in her life Itori actually figths to avoid the inevitable outcome, much to the amusement of the ghouls in the room with her, especially the leader. She doesn’t want to go back to this hellhole, she doesn’t want to be their toy anymore, not after having a taste of what a decent and normal life is like. She ignores the laughter as she struggles, can’t stop the tears of shame from falling down her bruised face as she only manages to twist her own arm painfully. She would bite her own tongue if it will actually kill her, but her regeneration ability is too strong for that. They made absolutely sure to train her enough that she couldn’t kill herself so easily when they first started selling her.

 

 _‘They don’t own me, they don’t own me!’_ She thinks desperately as the leader gets up from his seat and saunters over, activating his kagune, and shredding her clothes with it. She bites back a cry at the feel of the dangerous organ barely gracing her skin.

 

“Look at that, folks! She’s grown a bit!” It’s humiliating how they laugh at her misery and she screams loudly in one last but useless defiant act.

 

_“You don’t own me!”_

 

The door to the room is kicked in and a ghoul shouts as they are hit with it and falls over. Everyone turns to see a lone figure entering. Itori brings her head up to see Uta enter and he’s got the most chilling look on his face. She can’t quite bring herself to look at him when he enters the room, so she lets her head fall limply forward. How did he find her? And why did he come?

 

“What do you want, punk?” The leader demands and Itori realizes that no one there knows who Uta is. She realizes that the blonde has done something incredibly stupid. If he lets it go he can go off on his own and live. The blonde teenager ignores the man and ambles up towards them, hands stuffed in his pockets. He’s completely ignoring the dangerous crowd who are just waiting for the order to kill him as he heads towards the captured female and leader of the ward.

 

“I asked you a question!” Uta wrinkles his nose as spit fly from the man’s mouth.

 

“I’m pretty sure you demanded one.”

 

“Then answer!” Uta doesn’t, he merely tilts his head towards Itori and asks a question of his own.

 

“What did she do?” The leader scowls, not used to people ignoring him in such a manner, but smirks down at Itori a second later, taking pleasure in the wide, terror-filled eyes staring up at him, body exposed to them all.

 

“Doll face here ran away and hid for a whole year. She belongs to me and I lost a lot of money when she ran, so she had better-“ He is cut off by quickly Uta tearing his throat out with his bare hands, and he falls over with a gurgle, eyes wide in shock. He turns just as swiftly and beheads the ghoul holding her before anyone can react and the man falls over and Itori’s arms are free. She brings them up to cover herself just as Uta drops his jacket over her, like he had when he saved her a year ago. He stretches his bloody hands above his head until there’s a resounding crack coming from his back before letting them fall to his sides.

 

“Hey, Itori-san, if I kill everyone here, will you be free?” She blinks up at him, mouth hanging open. She looks like a fish on land, he almost giggles. Perhaps he would have if he wasn’t so angry. He can’t quite remember the last time he was this furious.

 

“What?”

 

“If I kill them, will people stop hunting you?” He should run, the moron, not talk about killing the ghouls in the room. Itori knows she should tell him that these are the strongest ghouls in the ward, that he literally has no chance of defeating them all on his own, but he isn’t smiling, he isn’t joking. It’s quite the opposite, really. The bloodlust is rolling off of him in waves so all she does is nod.

 

“Yes.” It’s like her answer is a catalyst. The ghouls lunge at them both, but for some inexplainable reason they just can’t beat him. They get in several good hits, but he doesn’t fall, he keeps on his feet, quick as lightning and tears them apart limb from limb, a wicked light gleaming in his eyes, pupils narrowing until she can barely see any red, just the black sclera. The falling ghouls are facing a teenage boy with nothing but a dark void for eyes, and she thinks that is the most terrifying thing of all. Not that he’s winning, not that he’s tearing them apart mercilessly because she thinks they deserve far worse than that, what terrifies her is that Uta looks like he came out of someone’s worst nightmare.

 

It’s over surprisingly quickly, and she watches as Uta stands hunched over the rather big pile of body parts and dead ghouls, back heaving with heavy breaths. He is wounded, and some of them should be bandaged because they aren’t exactly healing very quickly, but she’s still a bit frightened, until he straightens up and turns around. His eyes are back to normal, the red pupil big and bright and a boyish grin stretched across his face, which is splattered with blood. He looks so proud of himself and the fear ebbs away as she gets up on shaky legs. He wipes the blood off his face as best he can as he hobbles over.

 

“Why’d you come?”

 

“Because we’re friends, right?” It’s never that simple, people always want something more, there is absolutely no one who does things out of the kindness of their heart. She knows this better than anyone, but what Uta wants is lifelong friendship, someone to be by his side so he doesn’t feel so lonely anymore. It’s easy to accomplish this, she just needs to keep living with him and interacting with him, and after what he just did for her, she wants to. Because she wouldn’t have faulted him for abandoning her. She never expected him to stand up against the entire leadership of the fourth ward for her.

 

“Stupid U-chan.” She’s crying again, and she hates it, but the tears won’t stop, so she hugs him to hide her face. He is surprised, because she’s never let him hug her before, but he pats her head and tries to ignore how his aching ribs protest against the movements and her tight grip

 

“By the way…” He begins while looking around. “Where are we?” She bursts out laughing before shaking her head. She does actually believe that he is oblivious as to where they are. He had never cared much about the politics of the fourth ward.

 

“The one you killed first,” she says between her giggles, “he was the peacemaker.”

 

“… Shit.” She laughs harder, nearly falling over as he rubs his forehead in exasperation.

 

“The ward’s gonna turn into a war zone.”

 

“Not to mention, a lot of people will want to kill you for this.” Itori chimes in and he groans again. Then he looks around, seeing a backroom. He points at it and looks down at her.

 

“Where does that lead?”

 

“The second story. He has an apartment up there.”

 

“Is it big?”

 

“Don’t know. Never been up there.” So they go up the stairs and checks it out, noting that it was bigger than their own apartment and Uta turns towards her, grinning wildly.

 

“We’re moving.”

 

“Hah?!”

 

They don’t have much stuff, so moving it all only takes a couple of hours. Of course, while they’re in the middle of cleaning up the mess which is the pile of bodies on the first floor, a couple of ghouls subservient to the ones amongst the dead come by, wondering why their boss’ are late and come across the two teens. They attack, but Uta knocks them down quickly.

 

“We’re just cleaning up the mess, don’t make me add you to the pile!” He snaps and once they realize they are no match for the blonde, the ghouls stop fighting. They leave, and Itori tells him he should have killed them, because now they were going to rally with other ghouls to come get him. He just shrugs.

 

“Let them come.” And come they do. They are not actually organized, but they do come in groups. Unfortunately for them, Uta is far too quick on his feet for them to catch him, and when he gets a hold of them they only manage to scream before he has them pinned to the ground. He doesn’t kill everyone, but he does give them enough of a trashing to have them rethink coming for him again. Or Itori, because he makes it quite clear that if anyone dared to curl just one fucking strand of ginger hair on her head, he’d make their short lives a living nightmare. Of course, after that, something that Uta did not anticipate to happen, happened.

 

Itori nearly falls off the couch laughing at his expression when the ghouls in the ward bows their head to him after having forced their way into the building, stopping before the couch and living-room table Uta had brought in.

 

Apparently, the ghouls have decided that Uta is the new peacemaker, because none of them are strong enough to beat him. He is the strongest, he will make the rules. That is the law of the fourth ward.

 

The teen is less than pleased about their decision, considering he apparently has nothing to say on the matter. He is not pleased at all, but to get out of the leader-role he would have to be defeated, and he has no intention what-so-ever of rolling over and faking a loss. So, he does what is expected of him, and learns that it isn’t so bad, because with him in the position as top-dog, everyone listens and respects Itori well enough to leave her alone if she wants to be. Even the ones who knew of her past spoke to her with a respectful tone, and it made her more open. She smiles more, leaves their home on her own without throwing glances over her shoulders all the time, she even befriends other ghouls in the neighbourhood. Her personality did a real turn-around and he likes that. If him being the leader makes her feel safe enough to go out the door without worrying about being sold off, then he is going to put up with it.

 

For a while at least.

 

The job of a peacekeeper, however, is incredibly boring. It is simple, like keeping the CCG investigators in the dark, make them wander around in circles so they don’t increase their numbers in the ward and to keep the ghouls from killing each other or causing enough trouble to have the doves increase in numbers. It is almost disappointingly easy, really, until Itori barges into their home one day with a half-eaten child in her arms.

 

“What the hell-“

 

“Make a new rule!” She demands, her voice high-pitched with panic, laying the little child on the couch carefully before running off to find meat. He leans in closer and sees that the whimpering mass of bloody meat is a little girl. It’s quite obvious what happened to the girl, and he straightens up once more when Itori returns with food. She gingerly feeds the girl, watching in relief as the wounds start to close and the girl’s breathing becoming easier. It takes hours but by the time the sky starts to darken, they have half of a face and a ten-year-old unconscious on their couch.

 

“New rule.” She says quietly this time, and he rests his forearms on the couch, listening intently.

 

“No more cannibalizing children.” The girl will probably be in proper shape to go off on her own in a day or two, and Uta decides to have it out to the others quickly. He tells Kado to spread the word quickly, that if anyone dared to cannibalize children he would come and tear out their kakuhou and leave them in front of the CCG headquarters himself. No one dares to take a chance at him just mouthing off, because if he is serious they stand no chance and will be left vulnerable to other ghouls and investigators.

 

Two days later the girl is, as expected, fully healed, but Itori is reluctant to let her go when she learns that the girl is homeless, despite Uta assuring her that by now word would have reached the entire ward about the new law. Still, he indulges her and let her keep the girl for a couple more days while he makes the necessary arrangements for something Itori is left in the dark about. It’s not until he tells them both to take a walk with him that Itori is let in on what Uta was planning. He leads them to the very edge of the ward, where he stops and knocks on a door to a rather big house. An elderly woman opens the door and smiles gently at the blonde, who bows his head in greeting. Uta never bows his head to anyone, so Itori is left wondering how important this person must be.

 

“This the one?” She glances down at the ten-year-old hiding behind Itori and Uta nods. The woman beckons them to follow and once Itori sees that Uta doesn’t hesitate at all to wander through the door she brings the girl after him. Inside they are led to a kitchen with a long-table, where four children already sit, and the lady beckons their little charge to come take a seat as well. She does so hesitantly and is surprised when the woman sets a plate in front of her and the other children.

 

“Do come by and visit whenever you can, though don’t bring any trouble with you. I’m not as young and tough as I used to be.” The lady tells them sternly and Uta nods.

 

“Will do, Fukui-san.” They stay for a little while, and Itori has the girl in her lap as she asks Fukui about the home and the purpose for it. She hears a story which is far too common amongst ghouls, and pities the woman, though is happy she has found a calling. It is a good one, a respectable one, and she wonders how many who dares to do what Fukui is doing. Raising a litter of ghoul children, and taking in any that need aid, is a great task, especially considering the resentment and anger that tends to stay in their hearts even when they reach adulthood.

 

When the girl is assured that Itori will visit whenever she can, she and Uta are finally allowed to leave her behind with the lady and the other four. The walk back is quiet, but Uta keeps glancing at Itori, seeing that his friend is quite content. She links her hands behind her back and skips a few feet in front of him, humming.

 

“It seemed like a nice place.” She sings. Uta watches her with a fond smile. Itori should have been brought to a shelter like Fukui’s, he wholeheartedly believes that. He may never have met her if she had, but no one should have gone through what she did. She’s come so far, she no longer dresses to hide herself, nor does she have a reason to hide her hair beneath a beanie or hide whenever his underlings come by. Now-a-days she orders them around almost more than he does, and she has even found herself a hobby.

 

Experimenting with blood and gathering information. They will both beneficial in the long run, he believes.

 

He jogs after her and grabs her arm, turning her around and pulling her into an embrace. He wants to tell her he is proud of her progress, how far she has come and that she has taken charge of her own life, but the words get stuck in his throat. Instead he says:

 

“I’m happy I met you.” She pats his and smiles.

 

“I’m happy I met you too. What brought this about?” He doesn’t have an answer for it, the thought had come out of nowhere and he had felt the urge to say it. He’s sure she needs to hear it, but instead of saying anything he just hugs her harder.

 

Perhaps it is he who needed a hug.

 

“U-chan.” Itori says, turning her head slightly and he blows out a puff of air.

 

“I know.” They separate and look up, seeing several pairs of kakugan leering down at them. Itori sighs and crack her knuckles loudly, shaking her hair out of her face.

 

“This is what we get for taking the back-alleys.”

 


	4. One More Step

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Taking steps in the right direction is healing, isn't it?

 

“It’s been a while, I’ve almost forgotten what it’s like to be in a fight.” Uta grins, pocketing his shades. There’s a malicious light in his eyes which Itori never wants directed at her and she pushes her back against his when their attackers jump down. They’re new to the fourth ward. They didn’t know who Uta was or else they wouldn’t have attacked, or so the last ghoul stammers before Uta rips his head off. Uta loves fighting but unfortunately, he’s been doing very little of that lately. He is getting restless and no one are strong enough to sate him. Even when Kado and Sumi spar with him, it ends up with them having their asses handed to them with him still in the mood for a fight. When the investigators instigate a fight, it's over far too quickly. Itori wonders how long it’ll be before he snaps. She also wonders if she should find a way to take the edge off.

 

She sits on the couch on the first floor, watching as some grunts move around with bags of meat to store away or distribute and some are listening to Uta throwing orders around. Once the building is empty with the exception of the two of them, Uta drags a hand through his hair and Itori notices the dark roots starting to show. He’ll have to dye it again soon. She thinks he should just let it grow out and be black again, because the dye is really turning his hair dry and crunchy. He likes being petted, and she would also enjoy it, if it didn't feel like his hair was a rope she was getting tangled up with.

 

“I’m retiring.” She heaves herself off of the couch as Uta flops down on it, ruffling his hair affectionately before ascending the stairs. There’s a refrigerator in her room with several bottles of blood which have been stored there for months. She imagines they must be somewhat potent by now, at least she hopes so. She opens it and takes a few careful sips. Nothing. She guzzles the bottle in her hands, and it’s nearly empty when she screws the cap back on. Her head is buzzing, if only slightly, and she deems it good enough. She brushes her hands through her hair and breathes in deep, closing her eyes.

 

She can do this, she can do this, she’s done this before.

 

It’s only Uta, there is nothing to worry about, she keeps telling herself as she waits for him to climb the stairs too. She hears him shuffle into his room a couple of minutes later and she waits for a few moments before she dares to venture out of her room and into his. He looks up when she slips in, closing the door behind her quietly. He flashes that sweet boyish smile she’s come to like at her and she bites the inside of her cheek. Uta is good, Uta is caring, Uta is gentle with her.

 

“Oh, you wanna share a bed tonight, sunshine?” He quirks an eyebrow at her silence, she just moves to stand at the end of the bed for a little while, gathering what little courage she has. Then she slips her dress off and lets it pool to the floor. His eyes narrow as the garment drops, revealing her wearing nothing beneath it.

 

“What are you doing, Itori-san?” The fermented blood doesn’t help the nerves which makes her hands shake, especially not when he uses her actual name and not a nickname. She swallows quietly and crawls over to sit in his lap.

 

“Itori-san-“ She grabs his cheeks and yank him forward, ignoring how their teeth clack painfully together, clumsily kissing him. She’s never actually kissed anyone, it has never been required of her, and her inexperience shows. The male ghoul protests, or tries to, trying to gently push her away but she grinds her hips against his and he hisses, fingers digging into her waist and he finally manages to pull away.

 

“What are you doing?” He doesn’t sound angry, but he has immobilized her hips. She can’t move them, but her hands are still free.

 

“I’m taking the edge off.” She plants her hand on his crotch and rubs in a way she knew her clients liked. Uta is apparently no different, considering the bulge she feels growing against her hand.

 

“You’ve been really stressed lately, so I’m helping you find relief.” She says a-matter-of-factly, palming him and then kissing him again, this time not clacking their teeth together, but still clumsy. He allows the kiss, but his fingers wrap around her wrist and pulls her hand away. He shows her how to move her lips against his and she admits that the act of kissing isn’t unpleasant. He’s gentle and slow, and not attempting to pry her mouth open with his tongue, which she appreciates. It calms her down a bit and she pushes her nerves aside as best she can. She doesn’t understand why she’s feeling uneasy about this, she’s done this dozens of times over the years, she knows what to do, and Uta doesn’t scare her. She yanks her hand free and pulls back a bit.

 

“A favour for a friend.” She breathes against him and pulls on his pants, freeing his member. She wraps her slim fingers around him and begins to pump him. The only difference between now and back when she was the former peacekeeper’s _‘toy’_ was that no one was forcing her. That must count for something, right?

 

Right?

 

She’s suddenly thrown off of him, and a blanket covers her before she even realizes what’s going on. She pulls the blanket away to see Uta get up and pull his pyjama pants back up and marching out. Only when the door slams shut behind him does she realize she’s crying and shaking. That must have been a real turn-off. She wipes the tears away and sniffles. Now she feels utterly pathetic and useless and she’s pretty sure Uta’s more than just a bit annoyed with her. She lets the misery out instead of trying to hold it back, and by the time he returns she has pulled her dress back on. She notices that he has a towel wrapped around his neck and that his hair is dripping wet. Did he take a shower?!

 

“First of all,” He begins, dropping the towel and sitting down at the end of the bed, one foot supporting him and the other bent over the bed.

 

“I appreciate you worrying about me and wanting to help me _‘destress’._ ” He lifts his hands, making air quotes. “And if you want to kiss or have sex or whatever, I’m all up for it, but not while you’re _crying, damnit!”_ The curse comes out as loud as a shout and she flinch, ducking her head and hiding behind her knees.

 

“Fuck…” He didn’t mean to sound so angry, but he is. He’d become excited, thinking Itori was actually into it, if not a bit nervous about it, and it had been a while for him. Her starting to cry like that had been like being splashed by cold water.

 

“A favour for a friend? You don’t take your clothes off for anyone’s sake than your own, you idiot!” She nods demurely.

 

“I know.” Being angry with her won’t help anyone, so he sighs and rubs his face in an attempt at banishing his frustration with her. Itori had just wanted to help. She had gone about it the wrong way and made herself utterly uneasy, but she had tried.

 

“Can we kiss?” He looks up to see her stretch out her legs, hands twitching against the sheets, as if she wasn’t sure whether to fist her hands in them or not. Still, her expression is mostly curious.

 

“I liked it, though I’ve never done it before.” It was painfully obvious to him that she had never done it before, but he’d happily teach her, as long as she doesn’t start crying again. He moves to sit beside her and leans in, pausing just inches in front of her. She’s not blushing, as he had hoped she would.

 

Shame.

 

It’s a light peck he gives her. She blinks, having expected more, but when she opens her eyes he just grins, and she understands that if she wants more, she’ll have to instigate it, and that’s okay with her. Kissing doesn’t make her uncomfortable. She tilts her head and presses her lips to his. His lip ring is cold, a stark contrast to the heat of his skin.

 

“It’s nice.” She says as she pulls away, licking her lips. She kisses him again, pressing a bit longer and harder. She’s not quite sure what more to do, or rather, she knows what to do but is unsure about instigating it. Uta’s not doing anything to deepen the kiss either, other than grabbing her hand. When they pull away from each other now, he pulls the covers up over them.

 

“Let’s go to bed, yeah?” She agrees, curling up beside him, feeling much better about herself now than when he had been angry. When she wakes up the next morning, it is as if the whole incident never happened, except for the kisses. Itori kisses Uta whenever she feels like it after that. First it is only in private, but as he doesn’t push her away when she one day kissed his cheek just as Kado and Sumi entered their headquarters, she grew bolder. She dares to kiss him in front of his subordinates, even going as far to give him friendly pecks out in public. She thinks it’s funny how people avert their eyes to such displays of affection. It really is quite innocent compared to many other things. 

 

Then she grows bold enough to let him touch her, and things change rather quickly after that. She’s resting beside him one night, glancing down at the hand resting on her waist. It’s warm, strong, fingers long and slender, like that of a pianist. He can play the humans he brings in for dinner like a fiddle before he kills them with the very same hands. If she asks, maybe he can do the same to her. He’s still laying in the same position he took when he closed his eyes, so she’s sure he hasn't fallen into a deep sleep. Yet.

 

“U-chan?”

 

“Mn?” She may have woken him up after all, light sleeper as he is, but shakes her head.

 

“Could you… Could you do what Shiori did to me?” It takes Uta’s lizard brain a couple of moments to remember who Itori is talking about, then about _what_ she is referring to, but when it clicks he props himself up on his elbow groggily, staring at her. She isn’t wavering, and he is definitively awake now, and he watches carefully as he traces his hand over her skin, slowly pulling her t-shirt, his t-shirt actually, up and off of her. When he begins tracing her form with his hands, applying pressure every now and then, Itori thinks that he is much surer of his touches than Shiori had been and he is also exploring more than the human had done. Of course, their situation back then and now is completely different. There is no rush this time. They aren't truly testing any limits with an unknown third person.

 

And it’s good. Itori trusts Uta not to hurt her and he proves her right. At first the touches are nearly featherlight, to the point of being vaguely ticklish, but then they become firmer and she finds herself arching into his touch and sinking her nails into his arms deep enough to draw blood when she comes.

 

“How’s that?” Uta whispers as she comes down from her high.

 

“G-good.” She gasps out, still trying to catch her breath. He just watches her regain her bearings and once that’s done, he curls up around her and goes back to sleep, not allowing her the time to ask if she should help him out as well. She can sense that he isn’t really sleeping, his heart beats too quickly for that, but it is his way of telling her without letting her argue with him that it’s over now. She accepts it and goes to sleep too.

 

It happens again and again, and eventually she grows bold enough to touch him too, without crying and, to her astonishment, without feeling sick. She enjoys the faces he makes, the silent moans and how he is not forcing her to do anything beyond what she is comfortable with.

 

He’s glad she’s more confident in herself now, but he needs an actual real fuck. And dinner. So, he goes out to hit two birds with one stone. He brings the pretty little thing he finds home, and when an important matter comes up, he tells her to go up the stairs, to wait for him. It’s a quick fix and the peacekeeper takes the stairs two steps at the time, though when he opens his door he groans in disappointment at the sight of Itori crouched over the dead woman, elbow deep in guts. She blinks up at him innocently, teeth digging into what looks like a spleen.

 

“What are you doing?”

 

“Eating?” She answers after swallowing. “I’m tired of cold flesh. I wanted something fresh.” He’s also tired of dead flesh, that’s why he had brought a human home for the first time in months.

 

“Sorry, shouldn’t I have?” He just sighs and flops onto the bed. His pants are uncomfortably tight and he’s disappointed that he has to rub one out again, but he can’t be angry with her. It’s not like he had told her to stay away from any human he would bring back with him. He should do that next time.

 

“I was going to fuck her first.” He admits, waiting to hear his friend shuffle uncomfortably out of his room.

 

“Oh.” He hears Itori say and then he hears something flutter, something dripping onto the floor and then the pitter patter of bare feet. He opens his eyes to see his friend hover over him, naked as the day she was born. And covered in blood. The sight did not help his condition down south.

 

“Have sex with me then.” She waits for him to accept or reject her offer, and he narrows his eyes, waiting for her heartbeat to get uneven, for nervous sweat to gather on her brow and for her to retreat and take her words back. None of those things happen, so he pulls off his own clothes slowly and moves to give her space on the bed and kisses her when she slides in next to him, savoring the taste of fresh blood on her tongue. He tries to hold himself back, tries to be gentle, but she’s so tempting, warm and inviting. She holds him tight and bites and kiss, meeting his thrusts perhaps not confidently but eagerly, singing sweetly in pleasure. It’s kind of intoxicating.

 

“U-chan…” She tries to say something, but she can’t manage to gather her thoughts enough to properly articulate her words.

 

“Hm?” He slows down, pulling back to look at her properly, seeing her eyes shining a bright red against black. He wonders if she feels threatened, but then rolls his hips again and her eyes roll into the back of her head. She doesn’t feel uncomfortable, she enjoys this, and a warm feeling blooms in his chest as he realizes that he helped her get to this point.

 

“It’s, ngh, it’s really _good_ -“ She breaks off, nails dragging down his chest, over the newly healed sun-tattoo. He sincerely hopes she didn’t ruin it. It was a bitch to find someone who had the right equipment for his ghoul skin. He angles his hips and she nearly loses her grip on him as he thrusts hard, hitting all the right spots. Her head falls back, and she sings _there, there, there!_   unable to move anymore, pleasure clouding her mind and leaving her at his mercy. It’s almost embarrassing how quickly it’s over, but her enthusiastic responses, which he knows are sincere, and the fresh blood he’s been licking off of her skin, the heat of the room… it’s all too much for him, especially when she clenches around him with a scream that’s borderline animalistic. A growl deep in the back of his throat escapes as he grinds against her, then collapses over her.

 

Itori finds it a bit hard to breathe, but Uta’s shaking all over, exhausted, and she’s honestly still a bit too light-headed and giddy to care too much. Instead of complaining, she holds him tighter, let’s one hand brush through his hair while breathing in his scent. Musky, heady, sweat… She used to hate this kind of situation, but not now. Maybe that is because she knows the boy she’s entangled with, trusts him, cares for him and knowing he returns the sentiments.

 

His trembling subsides, and his breathing is finally evening out when he manages to pull himself out of her to discard the condom, before flopping onto the bed again. He sighs and pulls the redhead close, tangling their legs and nuzzling his nose into her hair.

 

“Are you okay?” She hums an affirmative. “I wasn’t too rough?”

 

“No.” She sighs. Admittedly she is a bit sore, but the feeling is fading rapidly, so she won’t bother him with it. It doesn’t change the fact that she enjoyed the act immensely. Still, while the scent of sex and bodily fluids permeated the air heavily, so did the smell of food. The corpse on his bedroom floor may be turning cold, but it is still very much fresh.

 

“Supper?” Itori asks with an impish grin and the male groans as his stomach growls.

 

“You’re cleaning that up.” He tells her, and she rolls her eyes.


	5. Raven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Uta doesn't appreciate having his ass handed to him, even if it does end up with Itori coddling him.

No one dares disrespect Itori now. Not because she often smells of Uta, but because she can dig up every little weakness a person had and use it against them, before or after she’s beaten them up. Still, when she returns home one day to see Uta actually covered in bandages and a nasty scowl adorning his face, she pauses, eyes widening slightly.

 

She’s missed something big.

 

“Did you get run over by a truck?” He shoots her a glare and she giggles, sitting down on the couch and patting the space beside her as an invitation to join her. She imagines he’ll need some sort of comfort based on his bad mood, but he stubbornly stays where he is, eyes blazing.

 

“Come on, tell me what big bad meanie it was who managed to actually scratch you.” She tries to coach him into joining her, but her words do nothing to calm him down, he only turns angrier.

 

“A cannibal.” He snaps viciously, and her eyes widen, not expecting that. Uta’s fuming and pacing, and Itori’s not quite sure what to do, except maybe stoke the already burning fire. She’s better at doing that than consoling anyone.

 

“Neh, U-chan, are they still alive? This cannibal?”

 

“It ended with a tie.” The blonde spits out the word as if it is the worst word he could ever articulate. For someone who’s pretty used to being the strongest ghoul around and never losing, she guesses it kind of is the worst word he can use when associated with himself.

 

“So, you’ve finally found someone who can keep up with you? Isn’t that interesting though? Won’t it make things fun again?” The male stops his pacing and stares at her, showing that she has his attention and that she had better make it good, else his mood darkens even further. She isn’t interested in that kind of situation.

 

“It’s been boring for you lately, since you haven’t come across a decent opponent for a long time. You said yourself you wondered about quitting as the peacemaker, right? If there’s a cannibal causing trouble, being the peacemaker won’t be so boring, would it?” She has his full attention now, and he finally sits down on the couch with her before laying his head on her lap. He turns his head slightly, expression demanding that she pet him, and she rolls her eyes before obliging him. She notices that some of the bandages have bled through and to be quite honest, she does not like the sight of that. She wonders how badly Uta had been hurt and how much had healed before she had returned home.

 

How can she have missed information on a cannibal entering the fourth ward? Especially if they were as strong as Uta. Rumors about that would have spread like wildfire in the ward.

 

“The bastard made fun of my glasses.” The teen’s pouting now and she bites her tongue to keep from laughing. He almost sounds more miffed about that than being beaten up. While she also kind of thinks that Uta’s taste in clothes and accessories are unusual, she likes it because it is just who he is, and she likes who Uta is. He stands out, so much that people actually don’t look twice at him, and she finds that amazing. He stands boldly out in the open, but no one can see him, and it is laughable how the CCG prides themselves on hunting ghouls and exterminating them when they can’t see the one mocking them openly, standing right in front of them.

 

“He really deserves a thorough beating.” She says in a consoling manner, rubbing Uta’s neck, near the mate mark she has left on him. He purrs at the attention, chest rumbling. She likes that sound too, it’s nice and it is a sign that he really trusts her and enjoys her company.

 

“Be careful, okay, U-chan? I don’t want you to die.”

 

“I’m not going to die, he’s gonna die, and it’s going to be so fucking painful he’ll wish he was never born.” He sounds like a petulant teenager and this time she does laugh. He looks up at her and a small grin teases his lips. He likes it when Itori laughs. There’s never any malice in it and it’s bubbly and cheerful now, a great contrast to how bitter and hollow it had been when they first met. It brightens his day, the dreary grey giving way for vibrant colours. Everything seems more alive.

 

“I promise, sunshine. I’m not going to leave you behind.”

 

“Mm, if you die, you’ve got to take me with you.” He will never do that but doesn’t bother arguing with her. All he has to do is stay alive and keep in power, be the top dog. He doesn’t see himself losing because he never does. There’s nothing to worry about and he doesn’t consider himself too cocky when he thinks that because it is true. Just because it ended in a tie this time it doesn’t mean that the cannibal is stronger than him. Still, Itori finds it a bit odd when Uta returns with severe wounds and bruises, sometimes even broken bones or missing limbs, every time he sets out to settle things with Raven, as the blonde has dubbed the cannibal. The gleam she sees growing in his eyes is worrying her as well, because Uta is looking at this situation as less of a severe and dangerous problem and more and more like it is amusement to relieve his boredom. She’s afraid he’ll let his guard down, become careless, a mistake that’ll cost him dearly because it’s obvious that the opponent is as strong as Uta and that he has no intention of holding back.

 

She hasn’t encountered the cannibal herself yet, counting herself lucky so far, but now she is curious, so she sets out alone one day, wandering along the sites where he had been seen last. The chances of Raven still being at one of those locations were extremely low, but it is a starting point at the very least. Rumors have finally begun to rear their ugly heads, people are saying that Uta isn’t all that strong and powerful as he’s led everyone to believe. Itori snorts. Of _course_ Uta isn’t omnipotent, even he has enemies he can’t defeat, that’s just logical.

 

Uta was a teenager, for god’s sake. He hasn’t lived long enough to meet a true challenge, but it seems like he has finally found a rival in Raven. The other ghouls in the ward could wag their tongues all they wanted, but apart from the cannibal there is no one in the ward who could stand up to the blonde one-eyed ghoul.

 

She’s too absorbed in her thoughts to watch where she’s going and walks straight into a human. She is not in the mood for fake apologies and courtesies and looks up, ready to tell off the one who dares to get in her way only to freeze on the spot.

 

Three Doves. Why are there three? They only operate in teams of two.

 

“Excuse me, miss.” She plasters on a pleasant smile and bows her head. This is what she fucking gets for going through the fucking back-alleys.

 

“No, it was my fault. I wasn’t watching where I was going.” She sidesteps them and tries to go on her way, but they stop her, one of the investigator’s grabbing her shoulder. His hand is cold and clammy, and she experiences a flashback she hasn’t paid any mind in years, not since Uta tore out the man’s throat.

 

She sees the former peacekeeper grabbing after her.

 

She yanks herself back, arms wrapping protectively around her upper body as she falls into the wall of a building, body not quite moving with the precision and speed she wants it to. Her legs feel weak, her heart beats much faster than what is good for her and her mind is a whirlwind of broken imagines of memories she’d rather forget.

 

“Don’t touch me!” She screams. She doesn’t understand where it came from, why the fear and memory suddenly seized her. She only knows that it came with the worst possible timing. They seem surprised by her outburst, or at least two of them are, the third one whom had grabbed her smirks, looking like he has hit the jackpot.

 

“You’re the one, I’m sure of it.” She frowns at him, not quite sure what he was talking about. She rarely does any hunting herself now-a-days, mostly enjoying Uta’s escapades alongside with him, or the meat Sumi and Kado bring to headquarters. She’s kept to the shadows for a long while though she does run supply runs for Fukui and her orphanage, and she hopes it’s not there the investigator knows her from, because that is a terrifying thing to think about. She has to tell Uta to do a sweep, check out if any humans knew of Fukui’s home for orphaned ghoul children.

 

“I saw you with the leader of a ghoul gang in this ward. That’s a grievous offense against your own kind. You could go to jail for that.” His words are meant to inspire fear in humans, not for ghouls. Ghouls will be killed on the spot, they knew this, but humans would be given one chance to make up for their crime.

 

They knew Uta’s face? Even when he made sure to always wear that creepy voodoo mask of his whenever he goes out to fight Doves or handle other affairs of the ward? That is seriously bad news for all of them. She tries to push her discomfort and nightmares to the side, to focus on the situation at hand, because this is no time to fall apart.

 

“Sakamoto-san, what are you talking about?” The man, Sakamoto, pulls out a photograph from his coat pocket, holding it up for all to see. It’s a picture of a woman who is undoubtedly Itori, and Uta hanging upside down from a fire-escape, his mask askew but face still safely hidden from the photographer. Good for him that his face is hidden, not so good for her considering they’re sucking face in the picture. She takes a deep breath and tries to will her shaking away. She needs to kill them, because they’ll soon understand that she is not human. Just because Uta is the one who fights the most out of the two of them it does not mean that Itori is a defenceless little lady. Three Doves is a bit too much though, she knows this, so she’ll have to be clever about it. They think she’s human, she can use that.

 

“What do you want with me?” She demands, pitching her voice a bit higher than normal to fake growing panic. It came to her so naturally she wonders if she is perhaps not faking it.

 

“You’re going to have to come with us. You are going to tell us everything you know about the ghoul known as No Face.” Sakamoto says with a voice demanding respect. She fights the urge to dig her fingers into his eye sockets. Her friend has gained a moniker though, and that is cool. For him, not her, it’s a shitty situation she is in right now.

 

“No Face? Ghoul gang?” She presses herself flat against the building.

 

“Don’t play coy-“

 

“I’m an escort girl!” She exclaims loudly, the very first thing which pops into her head and she curses herself mentally. “I don’t know anything about my clients. If one of them wears a mask for shits and giggles I don’t question it, I roll with it!” It is true that none of the escorts in the fourth ward asks any questions, even when a few of their own disappeares. Easy fuck, easy meal. It’s not like the ghouls attack them often, they’re mostly left alone as long as they pay up on protection fees.

 

“This doesn’t look like a service, does it?” The Dove counters and Itori flushes a bright red in anger. Who the hell does he think he is, as if he knows what it’s like being an escort girl, as if this piece of shit knows what it’s like to sell his own body for others pleasure.

 

“I do what my clients want. He pays for handholding and sweet kisses.” She mumbles, crossing her arms over her chest. The investigator stalks towards her and she readies herself to attack when a foreign voice calls out.

 

“What are you doing?” They all turn and see a silver-haired youth stand at the end of the alley they’re in, grey eyes narrowed in suspicion.

 

“Mind your own-“ Itori seizes the chance when the investigators are distracted. She stabs her hand through Sakamoto’s body and rips his arm off with her free hand, turning around and hitting the second dover across the face with said limb and kicks the third Dove into the opposite wall. She dives for the second Dove and twists his neck quickly and turns to the last one, watching as he holds out his suitcase with his weapon hidden within.

 

“You-“ The silver-haired teen moves and the human is dead before he can deploy his quinque. She watches as he lets the body flop gracelessly to the ground and smiles. She’s still afraid, the images still cloud her mind, but at least the investigators are dead.  

 

“Thank you for the help.” She bows her head gratefully. “Three might have been a bit too much for me. U-chan’s the one who handles the fighting, usually.” The teen just grunts before kneeling beside his kill, messily tearing into it. The mention of Uta’s name usually warrants a different reaction than this. Ghouls clamour to meet him, to get on his good graces but this ghoul seems to care less about Uta’s opinion and more on the food in front of them.

 

Not very talkative. Then it clicks. The plain clothing, silver hair, less than talkative attitude…

 

“You’re Raven, aren’t you?” He barely glances her way when she speaks but she sees how his shoulders tense. She just continues to smile disarmingly and begins wiping her hands on one of the dead human’s coats. She thought herself to be safe, but is starting to reconsider her situation. If he decides to attack, she reckons she’ll have to run for it. She can’t beat Uta so she stands no chance against the cannibal.

 

“Mah, I’m not here to pick a fight, I just wanted to see what the fuss was all about.” Like hell she was going to pick a fight with someone who could manage to land severely damaging hits on Uta.

 

“Why do you eat ghouls?” She asks and he shoots her a glare.

 

“Okay, okay, that subject is a no go. Why’re you causing trouble though? It’s hard enough to live here from before you came and caused a ruckus.”

 

“Leave me alone.” He grunts, and she shrugs. She decides not to push her luck anymore, because he seems to ready himself to launch himself at her should she continue with her questions.

 

“Okay then. Be that way. Good luck, Raven.” She leaves the alley, not hungry and more than eager to get away from the cannibal, despite not feeling that she is in any danger now that she has agreed to leave him alone. She returns home, only to find it empty. She frowns because she was sure today was a day Uta had cleared for any missions or duties so he could kick back and relax.

 

She checks her phone, but there are no missed calls or texts, so she’s left in the dark. She tries calling him but only reaches his voicemail. Itori shrugs and doesn’t think too much about it, until she realizes the next morning that Uta has yet to return. Now she is a bit worried, and since she still can’t reach him on his phone she leaves their apartment to search for him. It doesn’t help her frazzled nerves when she can’t find him anywhere. She’s afraid he has gone to fight Raven again and was defeated this time. She hurries home, barging through the door only to see him standing there, munching on an arm along with Kado.

 

“Where’ve you been, sunshine?” She just stares at him, speechless for all of two seconds before she storms forward and kicks the couch so hard it flies across the room. Uta and Kado leap aside to avoid the furniture, rolling across the floor and watches as it crashes against the wall, falling to pieces before slowly turning their heads back at the ginger.

 

“That’s my line!” She yells angrily before storming up the stairs. She has been searching for him all day, after he’s been gone for two days without leaving her any messages, and _he_ has the _nerve to ask where she has been?_

 

“I think you’ve done something wrong, boss.” Kado says as he hoists himself up. Uta blinks at the roof above him, confused. He’s not quite sure what’s going on, and he knows that to find out he will have to ask her.

 

He’s just not quite sure he’s willing to risk his life for the answer.

 

He hears a crash upstairs and the slam of a door before it’s quiet.

 

“Please don’t be my fake ming-vase.” He chants to himself as he ascends the stairs, only to rub the bridge of his nose when he sees that it is indeed the vase Itori shattered against the wall. He continues on to see that her door is barely hanging on its hinges from the rough treatment and he feels a sense of déjà vu. Itori is displeased with him, that much is obvious, he’s just not sure as to _why_ she’s angry with him. And he dislikes being in the unknown.

 

“Itori-san?” It’s better to be patient and courteous, he thinks, as he pushes the door open carefully. It promptly falls to the floor with a loud clatter, leaving him standing stupidly out in the open. He feels kind of vulnerable, like he’s lost the last line of defence. And Itori, despite being curled up in a ball on her bed, is dangerous right now, hostile, her kakugan shining brightly behind her hair, and wetly too. He starts when he realizes she’s crying and takes one step into the room, then another and another, until he’s standing just in front of her. She still hasn’t thrown anything at him, or snarled a warning at him, so he cautiously asks:

 

“Itori-san, what’s wrong?”

 

“You idiot.” She growls quietly and the hairs on the back of his neck rise. He’s facing an angry female ghoul. There are few things more dangerous in this world.

 

“I’ve searched for you all day. You didn’t come home, so I was worried. You didn’t answer your phone either.” Well, he thinks, that explains a lot, but not everything. Still, they’ll get nowhere like this, because she’s giving him short answers which demands a proper response from him as well.

 

“Sorry, I was meeting with Raven.” She raises her head and gives him a once-over, raising a dainty red eyebrow in suspicion. She doesn’t quite believe him because there’s not a scratch on him.

 

“We talked, well, I talked. He mostly just grunted at me.” Having met Raven just the day before herself she knows what he’s talking about. She’s still angry though.

 

“What did you talk about?”

 

“We’ve decided to stop trying to kill each other whenever we see each other and to be friends instead. He sort of agreed on the no killing part, at least. Oh, and his name is Renji, apparently.”

 

“Okay then.” That eases her worries considerably because if Raven isn’t out for Uta’s life there are few who can actually hurt her friend.

 

“Could you make me a mask too?” She asks, letting the matter fall and bringing up another which had bothered her since she had come across the investigators.

 

“Sure. But why?” She fishes out the photograph she had swiped from the investigator and hands it to Uta.

 

“Doves cornered me yesterday. They had a picture of me and you with your mask.” He scowls at it before glancing down at her.

 

“They’re dead?”

 

“What’s left of them are rotting in a back alley somewhere. But there are a lot more investigators now than before and because of the photograph they tried to take me.” She’s shaking, and he knows there’s more to it. He doesn’t verbally pry, but his gaze tells her to share. She doesn’t like the thought of it, telling him will make it even more fresh, but getting it out there may help her feel better. Getting it off her chest may lighten the load.

 

“One of the Doves reminded me of the former peacekeeper.” She says quietly. “And I couldn’t find you anywhere. I got scared.” She admits quietly as he sits down beside her.

 

“But you got them.”

 

“I had help. Raven passed by. You’re right, he’s not much of a talker.” He chuckles and kisses her temple, holding her close until the shaking stops and she feels safe again. It takes days, and Uta keeps on reminding himself that the next time he comes across Raven he’ll have to thank him for helping Itori. Of course, he can’t do that before he deems it safe to leave her alone. Kado and Sumi takes care of any issues that pops up until Uta believes it is okay to let go of the girl, and while they don’t know the whole truth about Itori’s past they don’t comment on it.

 

He invites Renji over one day, after a joint fight against investigators, and offers him food from the very fridge he had once raided when he was new to the ward. Kado and Sumi aren’t all that happy with Uta letting Renji come into the hideout, but they respect Uta’s decision and keeps their complaints to themselves.

 

“By the way, I heard you helped a friend of mine with some Doves a while back.” Uta says offhandedly as they enter the building.

 

“Thanks for that.” The silver-haired teen stares at the blonde, not recalling helping any of Uta’s henchmen and is about to say so when a voice calls out.

 

“U­­-chan!” Itori throws herself at her friend, arms wrapping around his neck and trapping his face in her chest. As said blonde is struggling to wrestle free, Itori notices Renji and she lets Uta go to drop to the floor.

 

“Oh, Ren-chan!” Renji balks. Ren-chan?!

 

“Are you two friends now? Is this a dinner date? Am I no longer needed here?” She jokes and the blonde playfully shoves her away from himself with an eyeroll.

 

“Don’t be such a drama-queen.”

 

“Oh, you.” Renji says as he remembers where he had seen the redhead before. Back in the alley he hadn’t really taken a good look at her, but now he sees her, and believes she’s a lot different than the rest of the ghouls in the ward.

 

“Itori. My name is Itori.” She introduces herself with a small bow of her head, still grinning.

 

“U-chan’s told me a lot about you.” He narrows his eyes at Uta, who is simply whistling innocently while rummaging through the fridge.


	6. Decisions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Itori belongs to herself. Renji knows because Uta told him. Uta will never tell him anything ever again after this, the Raven thinks.

Renji quickly becomes a part of their group, and they become a well-known trio in the fourth ward. Renji never comments on how Itori and Uta share a bed sometimes or how they often reek of each other. They’re teenagers, well they’re young adults by now so this is normal, but there’s one thing that he finds odd. He has caught sight of the mark on the back of Itori’s neck, on Uta’s shoulder, obvious mating marks. It is a curious matter. He’s never commented on it, not before he and Uta shares another night on the roof tops, talking. He doesn’t mean to ask about it, it just slips out of his mouth before he can stop himself.

 

“Aren’t you two a bit young to lay a claim on each other?” At least he sounds casual as he asks, and that may be enough to make it seem like he’s not really interested in the real answer, but just threw it out there out of curiosity. It’s like he isn’t really craving an answer from Uta.

 

“We haven’t laid a claim on each other.” Uta replies, eyes wide as he tilts his head to the side. It almost seems like he’s confused, not knowing what Renji is talking about, but the silver-haired teen knows better. You don’t leave a lasting mark on a fellow ghoul without a reason, not a mark like that at least.

 

“But, the marks-“ Renji cuts himself off. It really isn’t any of his business, is it? His view of mating marks might be entirely different than Uta and Itori’s interpretation of such a claim. All he’s doing by continuing to question this is butting into a matter that might be delicate.

 

“Oh, that. Itori doesn’t belong to anybody, but I marked her so others would leave her alone, and because she asked me to. Sure, she’s my mate, but she doesn’t belong to me, she belongs only to herself.”  The blonde explains.

 

“And you?” The silver-haired man asks and watches as Uta muses up towards the night sky.

 

“Well, I consider myself hers. She was my first friend, you know. I care about her a lot, so I want her to be happy and safe. I’m pretty sure I love her, now that I think about it.” Renji, at first, just stares at his companion with wide eyes, surprised that Uta gave such a straight-forward answer without even pausing, or blushing. It was like he stated a fact everyone should know, not his personal feelings about the female ghoul back at their hideout.

 

“None of us are safe, we’re ghouls.” Renji counters once he gets his bearings together and Uta chuckles bleakly, mirth leaving his eyes and gaze dropping down to the streets below, occupied now only by sleazy night life.

 

“Investigators and their quinque isn’t what she’s afraid of.”

 

“What do you mean?” The former cannibal doesn’t know what else there is to fear than the investigators and their weapons, former ghouls turned to grotesque mockery of their abilities.

 

“You’re awfully chatty today, Renji-kun.” The edge to Uta’s voice tells Renji it’s time to change the subject, that he is treading on very thin ice and that his friend has no intention of ever telling him. It really is none of his business either way. He keeps quiet about it until Itori runs into the building one day, half a year later, up the stairs where they all sit in the small living room, the smell of salt tickling their nostrils. She run past them all and into the bathroom, slamming the door shut behind her. Uta abruptly stands up, pushing the corpse in his lap off of him and not even giving it a second glance as it splatters blood across his floor and everyone begins to file out without a word. Renji’s never come across this before, so he’s not quite sure what to do as Uta follows the woman, so he opts to sit still and wait. He was never told to leave, and he wants to make sure his friend will be alright. It must be bad, because Renji has never seen Uta drop food to the ground for any reason before, especially not when he is hungry.

 

“I’m not! I am _not!_ ” He hears her chant, voice cracking. He can hear something shatter and fall to the floor and deduces it is most likely the bathroom mirror which was shattered.

 

“You’re not.” He hears Uta utter reassurances and the sheer broken tone in Itori’s voice rattles him. She’s always so cheery, like bright sunshine fighting tirelessly against the dreary grey and terrifying red that stains their world. Bright, bright sunshine. Renji can understand why that ended up being Uta’s nickname for her, but it seems like even Itori has days where she succumbs to the pressure, to the dark reality that is their existence. He can hear the shower start up, hears the female cry and sniffle, hears Uta’s mutterings, and sometime later they both emerge, Itori’s hand tightly clasped in Uta’s own as he leads her to his bedroom, motioning for Renji to follow once he sees that the other ghoul is still seated on the couch.

 

The silver-haired teen watches as Uta tucks her in the white sheets, carefully as if he’s dealing with a creature made of glass, someone so fragile she’ll shatter if he’s too rough, then turns to him. It makes no sense to Renji, because the Itori he knows is far from weak, far from being a porcelain doll.

 

“Watch over her for me. I’ve got some business to attend to.” There’s a chill in his voice and a malicious light in his eyes that make Renji instinctively put his guard up. He remembers being on the receiving end of such a glare once.

 

“I’ll be back soon.” Uta whispers to Itori in a much softer tone as he delivers a small kiss to her forehead and then he’s gone. Renji takes a seat on the floor, leaning his back against the bedframe and for a while it’s not all that awkward, despite Itori’s eyes being puffy and her nose red and the fact that he is utterly useless when it comes to comforting others. He can’t even comfort himself, all he can do is nurture the anger in him directed at the human who took everything away from him with a sweep of his quinque. He curses his own curiosity, because he is curious as to what could have caused her to break down as she did, but it isn’t his business, he doesn’t think it’s safe to ask her either. And he’d rather not get into a fight with Uta because he managed to further upset the blonde’s mate, not when he was in such a mood.

 

“You can ask, you know.” Itori speaks up, a tired grin and fake cheeriness in her eyes meeting him as he turns his head. He thinks she looks terrible. Her hair which is always so vibrant and wavy falls flat and dead down her neck, her eyes haunted and hurt, her skin pale as a ghost… He doesn’t voice his question, not sure he wants to know the story of what happened to make her this way, but she tells him anyway and he’s appalled to learn about her past. Then he understands Uta’s words from their night on the roof top, about Itori needing to only belong to herself and nobody else. Itori needs the constant assurance that she is her own person, not someone’s toy or pet, and Uta is doing his best to help her believe it by not claiming her to be his. Renji gains new respect for Uta after Itori’s tale. She gains a whole lot more respect too. He admires that she broke free, that she accepted help when offered and that she’s living as best she can despite horrible memories and nasty nightmares. He admires that she chose to look forward instead of staying lost in the past.

 

When Uta returns, reeking of blood and death, Renji claps his shoulder and leaves. He needs to kill something as well, just to vent the anger and disgust he’s feeling. Uta blinks and stares after Renji who slams the door behind him before turning to Itori.

 

“You told him?” He is surprised, because Itori has only ever told him the whole story and that is because he killed the men who had used her, and she had spilled all the beans in the fragile state of mind she had been in then.

 

“It’s not like he’ll tell anyone.” Itori shrugs before opening her arms and beckoning him to join her on the bed. She feels a bit better, having told Renji her story, and getting it off of her chest again, but nothing can truly beat being held and kept safe by her friend and lover.

 

“I’m sorry, I’m being needy.” She apologizes as she curls into him. He doesn’t mind, he never does, and tells her so while wrapping himself around her like a koala.

 

“I like cuddling with you.”

 

“You’re spoiling me.” She replies with a quiet chuckle.

 

“I’m your mate. It’s what I _want_ to do.” She smiles at that, a little happy and a little sad. She’s happy that he cares so much, but sad because she hasn’t been able think of herself as his even though there’s no one she trusts more. She belongs to herself, that is the truth and what he’s been telling her for years. She envies him for the courage he has, finds herself so incredibly lucky that he’s so understanding and patient. They’re still so young, and sometimes it’s hard to remember that, but she feels that Uta shouldn’t have to be so understanding, shouldn’t have had to grow up so quickly. Not for her sake. But instead of questioning it she appreciates it. She lets herself bask in the attention and comfort for as long as Uta will bother with her. She sighs as he presses tender kisses to her knuckles, nuzzles against his hands as he scent-marks her. She enjoys the warmth seeping from his body beneath his clothes, how it envelops her and makes her feel safe and cared for. She has come far, she knows this when she wakes up the next morning, trapped beneath him without freaking out about the heavy weight atop her. Sometimes he is absolutely ridiculous, she thinks. She finds herself on her back, with Uta’s upper body tangled in her legs and face down in the mattress.

 

 _‘Are you even breathing?’_ She thinks and wonders how she manages to sleep through his acrobatics every time. She sighs and tries to tug her legs free, only to feel him tighten his grip and shift. So, still alive. She flops back onto her back, arms spread eagle. She wonders how long she’ll be his prisoner this morning. Her friend is far from a morning person, so he tends to stay in bed until Itori drags him kicking and screaming out from beneath the covers. She doesn’t feel like he deserves an abrupt wake-up call this morning and to be honest, she doesn’t feel like getting up at the moment anyway. She dozes and only returns to full consciousness when Uta lightly tickles the soles of her feet.

 

“Morning.”

 

“Stop!” She jerks her feet free and sit up, hair a mess. She feels more tired now than when she first woke up and curses. She knows better than to turn around and sleep more. She doesn’t get a reprieve though because Uta wrestles her feet under him and continues with the merciless tickling. She shrieks as she fails to roll away, and she can only hit after him, but he barely reacts to the onslaught of attacks as the involuntary laughter weakens her. She grabs a pillow in a last-ditch effort and hits him hard and that has more of an impact than her wild flailing from before had.

 

“Ouch!”

 

“Don’t tickle me!” Finally free she hits him again and again until he rolls away and off the edge.

 

“Whoa-“ She laughs as he falls off in a flailing mess of limbs and sheets. He raises the white sheet and waves it in surrender once he manages to free himself, peeking up over the edge with begging eyes, asking to be allowed to get up again. She drops the pillow as a sign that the feud is over and pats her lap, and he crawls back up and lays his head on her lap.

 

“I hit my head.”

 

“Oh boohoo.” She mocks, grinning at the pout that forms on his mouth. Still, she brushes her hand through his hair in a comforting manner, giggling quietly at the purr of satisfaction and moves her other hand to scratch her nails across the mark. He stretches like a cat and turns over, wrapping his arms around her middle and burying his face into her stomach.

 

“You’re awfully cuddly this morning.” He pulls back a bit and furrows his brows, looking up at her from the top of his eyes.

 

“I’m always like this. What’s wrong?” Nothing is wrong. She is just a bit nervous about what she is about to tell him, because she doesn’t have a proper intro for it, she hasn’t practiced what she’s about to say.

 

“Nothing is wrong.” She says, letting her nails scratch against his scalp. “I just… Really love you, Uta.” He stares, eyes wide and absolutely speechless. He views himself as hers, even if she’s never managed to see herself as his, but her telling him that she loves him, isn’t that her saying that one day she may be able to do so?

 

“I just… Thought I could finally say it out loud.” She adds, cheeks tinting pink. She rarely blushes and it is adorable. He surges up and holds her close, chest rumbling with laughter. It’s a lovely sound and infectious. She starts laughing too, rubbing her nose against the mark on his shoulder.

 

“Can I ask you something? Or maybe I should call it a proposition?”

 

“Sure?”

 

“You can’t hide anything from me, U-chan. Not even your feelings, and I can’t say I fault you.” He pulls back and raises an eyebrow at her, wondering what she’s scheming now.

 

“I’m all ears, sunshine.”

 

Months later Itori is trying to loosen Renji’s tongue. He’s been in a worse mood than usual lately but Itori noticed it only because he didn’t seem so aggressive anymore. Anyone who threw an insult doesn’t even get a glare thrown in their direction and that caught her attention, because that is how Renji communicated. With expressions, not words. She’s gotten a lot better with fermenting blood, and after a certain incident which had given her ample blackmail material from both Uta and Renji, she’s learned that Renji is a very talkative drunk. But she doesn’t want him drunk, she wants him sober enough to know what it is he is telling her, so she gives him a small glass of one of her less potent beverages and watches as he simply sloshes the liquid around.

 

She prods his leg with her toe, tilting her head and gesturing to the glass in his hand. He barely looks her way but does start to sip on the blood wine though he is still not saying anything. Itori has learned not to pry too much because that will only result in him clamming up completely. It is getting rather ridiculous though, this awkward silent air hanging between them.

 

“Ren-chan, what’s on your mind?” She dares to ask, and he leans back on the couch, looking up at the roof. He doesn’t answer, as she suspected, so she sighs and turns in her seat bringing one leg up on the couch so she’s facing him and resting her lower back against the armrest.

 

“Come here, please.” She pats the space between her legs and he raises a brow at her. When he doesn’t move she just smiles reassuringly and pats the space until he finally relents and moves to sit closer and that is when she strikes. She pulls him closer, directing his head to rest beneath her chin as she embraces him. She’s caught him off-guard and he jerks at the sudden contact, but she holds him tight enough that he can’t escape.

 

“You know you can tell me and U-chan anything.” She tells him, and brushes a hand through his hair, humming quietly to soothe him like she often does to Uta.

 

“I know.” He finally speaks, but both Itori and Renji knows that even if this is true, it is easier said than done. He isn’t someone who feels like he could rely on anyone, he is used to keeping things to himself.

 

And never work out his issues.

 

“I’d be sad if you don’t think you can trust us at this point.” She adds and he huffs. She trusted him enough to tell him her story, but he hasn’t come far enough that he feels comfortable telling either of them his reasons for coming to the fourth ward and cannibalizing.

 

“I trust you, I just… I don’t rely on others.”

 

“Hm, it did take some time before you actually joined us for dinner.” Itori muses before glancing down at the glass in his hands.

 

“Let me have a taste.” He hands it over and she takes a gulp, smacking her lips.

 

“Mm, I need to make it stronger.” She gives it back to Renji who sits up and downs it quickly.

 

“Whoa there.” He drops the glass onto the table before falling back into Itori again, letting her pet him and attempt at comforting him despite not knowing what bothered him so. Sometimes being held worked out fine, and for someone who don’t talk much, Itori figured that this worked out best for Renji. So she sits there with him quietly, humming a soft little tune while brushing her hand through his hair.

 

“I’m lonely.” She blinks in surprise, both because she had not expected Renji to actually tell her anything and especially because she had not expected something like this.

 

“Lonely? Ren-chan, what’s that about?” He doesn’t answer, but he does turn around to wrap his arms around her middle. She smiles, happy that he’s comfortable enough to actually hug her back as he never does that. She nuzzles his hair, giggling when his silver hair tickles her nose. Renji smiles one of his rare smiles at the sound, exhaling. His breath is warm against her skin and she shivers.

 

“Ren-chan, why are you lonely?” The blood may not have been very potent to Itori, but it had loosened his tongue considerably.

 

“I’m alone.” She frowns, tugging gently at a lock of his hair. Why is Renji feeling this way?

 

“But you’re not alone, you have me and U-chan.”

 

“I have friends, but…” He trails off and she realizes what he means, but he continues before she can say anything.

 

“I’m jealous of you and Uta. Or Uta, or you, I’m not really sure anymore.” Well that was unexpected, but not unwelcome. Itori shimmies down until she’s trapped beneath him and kisses his nose. He blinks down at her and she laughs at the adorable confusion etched across his face.

 

“You look confused, Ren-chan.” She teases. “Do you want to kiss me?” He’s hesitant to answer and averts his eyes but she’ll have none of it and forces him to look at her.

 

“No matter what you say, it’s not wrong. Just tell me honestly.” She tries to assure him, and watches as he weighs his thoughts carefully and the way his brows knot and lips purse is rather cute.

 

“Yes…”

 

“What’s stopping you? I don’t belong to anyone, I can kiss whoever I want, be with whoever I want and so can U-chan.” His frown doesn’t ease up, so she tries to smooth it out with her thumb.

 

“If you want to kiss me, Ren-chan, then do it. It’s okay, I want to kiss you too.”

 

“Is it really okay?” He asks quietly, looking almost afraid and she nods, cupping his cheeks and rubbing her thumbs over his cheekbones.

 

“It is. U-chan won’t mind, if that is truly what you’re worried about.” He lowers his head slowly, still unsure, before pressing a tiny kiss on her lips. He pulls back, staring down at her and she lets her lips curl up a bit.

 

“That wasn’t so bad, was it?” She says quietly, and his answer is to lean down and kiss her again and again until they’re both breathless. She giggles and pulls him down to lay flush against her, holds him close as she kisses him back, rolling her hips up against his. The action catches him off-guard and a loud groan escapes him. He blushes and averts his eyes, but near on panics when Itori pushes him off of her. She is still smiling though, and when she stands up she’s holding out her hand for him to take and he thinks that maybe things are alright. He feels like he’s under a spell when he follows her, unable to think straight or object when she leads him to her and Uta’s room, letting her dress fall off and carefully pulling on his clothes as well.

 

Her skin is soft, and he marvels at the sounds she makes, how she moves against him and holds him close, the way his name leaves her lips in breathless moans when he enters her. The nagging voice in the back of his head is being drowned out by the pleasure he feels from her kisses, touches, how she feels around him, from the sounds escaping her lips which are growing louder. He feels her razor-sharp nails drag down his back, probably leaving angry red welts, marking him, but he doesn’t mind because the pain makes it real, this is really happening.

 

“Itori…” He moans as he falls forward, his thrusts fall out of rhythm and grow erratic as he moves a hand between them in an effort to make the girl come first. She is absolutely gorgeous in the throes of ecstasy and he’s captivated by the sight. Heat floods through him as his release hits him hard and he buries his face in her neck in an attempt at muffling himself. He blinks in an attempt at clearing the haze which is making his vision fuzzy, his arms shake from the effort of keeping himself up, but once he lays eyes on the mark on Itori’s neck, all strength leaves him and horror floods his mind.

 

“Oh god…” He pulls himself back, eyes unable to look away from it. Itori’s head is turned to the side, eyes still closed and chest heaving.

 

So much for their friendship, Uta is going to kill him. Itori may not belong to anyone, but Renji’s never smelled anyone but Uta on her and the blonde considers himself hers. He flat out told Renji he loved the redhead. Renji is the friend whom Uta confided his feelings and situation to.

 

A really shitty friend.

 

“Ren-chan?” Itori has propped herself up on her elbows, head tilted to the left as she looks up at him.

 

“What’s wrong?”  So many things are wrong, can’t she see that? He moves to get off of the bed, trying to come up with a reason for Uta not to kill him when the ginger grabs his wrist.

 

“Calm down.”

 

“Calm down?! I just-“

 

“Oh.” Renji freezes at the sound of Uta’s voice from the doorway. He can’t quite find the courage to turn and look him in the eye. Shame fills him, and he swallows thickly. He isn’t good with words under normal circumstances and he has no idea how to justify this situation. He really is the worst friend to ever have existed. Uta loves Itori, told Renji so himself, and here Renji is, trampling all over the trust the peacemaker had extended to him. Uta is going to kill him, what other reaction will he show for this betrayal? Whatever fragile relationship they have had up until now is going to go down the drain just because he couldn’t keep it in his pants. He feels regret and a whole lot of shame, because he does deserve to die by Uta’s hand for what he has done, but he is a coward, clutching onto the reason that he _has_ to get revenge first before he lets his friend, or former friend, end him.

 

 _‘I always screw up. First my sister, then Arata and now Uta and Itori.’_ He thinks.

 

“No fair, you started without me.”

 

What?

 

“What?” Renji chokes out.

 

“What?” Uta echoes him and glances over at Itori who flops onto her back with a groan.

 

“Sorry, U-chan, I forgot to ask. It all just happened very quickly.” Renji glances between them, not quite comprehending what is going on and wondering why Uta hasn’t tried to throttle him yet. Uta settles on the bed, holding Itori’s hand when she pushes herself up in a sitting position, letting the sheet flutter to her lap. Both of them look at Renji who’s bunched the sheet up around his waist, hands fisted in it tightly, mind still confused and worried. And the shame still slithers beneath his skin like a thousand venomous snakes. Watching them hold hands after he had sex with the redhead did not make him feel any better about the situation.

 

“We’ve been talking.” Uta begins, glancing at Itori before looking back at Renji. “We’re wondering if, perhaps, you’d want to be our mate?” Renji blinks, mind not fully comprehending what is going on at all. He’s quite unable to follow for a few minutes as he just stares at them. One minute he was having sex with Itori, Uta’s friend, lover and mate, and now they’re inviting him into their already unorthodox relationship. His mind is reeling, trying to make sense of what they’re saying.

 

“I- what?”

 

“We both really like you, Ren-chan. You’re a good friend, you’re nice and kind and good, not to mention  _very_ hot eye-candy.” He flushes a deep red. He isn’t used to compliments, just like Itori wasn’t used to kindness, but they can work with that.

 

If he accepts that is.

 

If he doesn’t, then they’ll just keep on being friends, but they really want him to be with them. Itori heard himself say that he is jealous of the both of them, knows that he wants at least her, that he cares enough about Uta to feel like utter shit when he realized what he had done.

 

“But… You… you haven’t claimed…” His mind is a big jumble so Itori reaches out with her free hand to grab one of his.

 

“I’m willing to be claimed if it’s by the two of you, because I trust you.” Trust. Everyone close to him dies, except for these two. He envies them, their easy relationship, he is attracted to the both of them, he’s not ignorant enough to not realize that. He enjoys Itori’s cheerfulness and Uta’s mischievousness and they’re extending everything to him.

 

“How would it even work?” He is proud to have been able to articulate a proper sentence for the first time since Uta entered the room.

 

“Who knows? We’ll figure it out as we go.” Uta shrugs.

 

“Are you comfortable with that, Ren-chan?” They’re not pulling his leg, they are serious about this and when they hold out their hands for him to grab on so willingly he will not be stupid enough to reject them. Yomo Renji is many things, but he is not a fool.

 

“I’d like that.” He says finally, hand relaxing its hold on the sheets.

 

“Great!” Itori exclaims, startling him. “Cuddle time!” She pulls them both down and giggles at Renji’s flabbergasted expression alongside with Uta. Itori finds that she enjoys being caught in the middle, with Uta’s face buried in the back of her neck, teeth nipping at the mark and Renji in front, blushing madly but not letting go of her hand, and despite his usual stoic expression, a small relieved smile has wormed its way onto his face and his eyes crinkle with a tiny hint of happiness.


	7. Tell Us Her Name

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He's barely dared to think her name for years, but Renji finally tells Uta and Itori. Hikari, her name was Hikari.

Renji finally tells them why he came to the fourth ward, lying naked and sweaty and reeking of the both of them one morning. He is used to waking up to one of them kissing him or touching him in some way and it is nice, waking up wrapped around them or them wrapped around him. Warm, safe, comfortable. It brings a smile to his lips more often than not, and he always ducks his head to hide whenever they tell him he looks beautiful smiling. It takes a long time before he grows used to it, but they think it’s amusing and cute whenever he tries to hide in embarrassment.

 

So they throw compliments any time his guard is down, even during fights with Doves. He yells at them for that.

 

But he realizes it as Uta runs a hand up and down his back, fingertips tracing his vertebra, and Itori who is curled up in a ball behind the blonde, that he really does trust them more than anyone else and loves them more than he ever thought he could love anyone, so he decides to tell them, because right now at this moment he feels like he has the courage to do so. The courage to say Hikari’s name out loud without crumbling.

 

“You’ve probably heard a story like this before.” Renji says to his drowsy mates, and immediately Itori pulls herself up to lay half-way over Uta and the blonde pulls back a bit to look up at him from his perch on the silver-haired man’s chest. He tells them about his sister, what kind of person she was and how she had raised him, and had gotten married and birthed two children, a girl and a boy. He tells them of what happened a couple of years after the children were born, and the words clog in his throat. They move him so he lays between them, muttering reassurances and words of adoration and showers him in affection. They let him take his time, never trying to hurry him in finishing the story and he appreciates that. It’s late morning by the time he’s done, and he relishes the support as a few tears trail down his cheeks.

 

“Ren-chan, don’t get angry with me.” Itori says, running her hand through his hair. He loves it when she does that, it’s soothing and reminds him of when he was younger, when Hikari would comfort him.

 

“Your sister had children, so you’re an uncle. I get that you want revenge, justice for what happened, but did you ever stop to think about what was left of your family?”

 

He has done so, several times in fact. Back when he heard of his sister’s death, he had been so angry he had said some very hurtful things and stormed off. Kirishima Arata had not deserved those words thrown in his face, Renji knew that, but pain and anger is a terrible mix and he’s terrible at expressing himself. It is because of this that he thinks they’re better off without him for a while yet. He can’t go back until his sister’s killer is dead, can’t look Kirishima or the children in the eyes before he’s fulfilled the goal he left them for in the first place. He tells his mates this, and they grow silent.

 

“I’ve cannibalized. I can’t go back until it’s over.” But he does want to, they can see it on him. He misses his family, he wants to see them again.

 

“Okay then. I’ll help you get revenge.” Uta says, tangling his legs with Renji’s, grinning up at him impishly. “We’re friends after all.” Renji ducks his head and hides his growing smile into the pillow. It’s dangerous, but they won’t take no for an answer anyway. He can argue all he wants, but they’ll stick to him like glue.

 

“Tell me his name and I’ll see what I can dig up.” Itori pipes in, showing that she will most definitively help too.

 

“It’ll be dangerous.” He warns.

 

“It’ll be okay.” Uta assures, moving up so he’s nestled into the pillows before turning onto his back and bringing Renji with him, chest to back. Itori follows and straddles him and soon Renji forgets the investigator and his wish for vengeance. All that matters are them.

 

Itori spreads fake rumours that the ghouls in the fourth ward are amassing to attack the branch office. It spreads like wildfire, and the weaker ghouls who aren’t as proficient at fighting are hidden away. Uta stations guards at Fukui’s orphanage as a precaution, and when the Doves arrive, they whittle them down, avoiding attacking when Renji’s target follows. They’ve decided to take out as many investigators as possible before they deal with the real target.

 

They’re clever about it, and it all goes well, until one night, the man arrives as Uta fights a plain-faced Dove. The blonde just manages to avoid the attack that shoots his way. The force they’re fighting yell out a name, Arima, and Uta feels the hairs on the back of his neck rise. He dares to glance away, sees Renji overcome with rage. The blonde has never seen Raven so angry before, not to the point that he’s obviously not thinking clearly. Uta dodges the attack Renji releases, the ghoul isn’t properly seeing who’s friend or foe anymore. To his astonishment, the investigator blocks the attack easily, before releasing one of his own. Renji is fast, he dodges as well, but the lightning follows him no matter where he runs, so he slowly begins to advance on Arima, and once he’s close enough he leaps.

 

Uta’s heart stops in his chest for a moment, when he watches as Renji’s nearly cut in half by the plain Dove he had goaded on earlier. He watches frozen in place as Renji falls into a bloody, broken heap, and the worlds seems to slow down. The pounding in his ears distracts him to the point he leaves himself wide open.

 

“Boss!” Kado’s shout shakes him out of his horror and he just barely manage to deflect the attack.

 

“To Raven!” He hears Sumi order and forces his sluggish feet to follow. Renji is struggling to get up on his feet but all he manages to do is pull himself up into a sitting position, an arm wrapped around his middle to stop his insides from spilling out. He can’t fight anymore, and Uta realizes that no one in his group, himself included, will be able to reach him in time. His kagune shifts beneath his skin, but before anyone can do anything a dark-clad man lands in front of the silver-haired man and everyone stops moving.

 

“Good evening.” Arima greets, and jumps back to avoid the attack form the stranger, who grabs Renji and leaps off. Uta’s not quite sure what just happened, but the fight is over so he orders everyone to scatter. Everyone disperses, but Uta follows the smell of Renji’s blood. Whoever took him has better come up with a damn good excuse. They’re fast, but he manages to catch up, speeding past them and stopping them in their tracks. They stop short at the sight of him and he can hear Renji wheeze for breath.

 

“Drop him.” Uta’s voice is dark and dangerous, hostility shrouding him like a cape.

 

“We’re taking him home.” The dark clad man answers, and Uta realizes it is quite an old man who stands in front of him. Old ghouls are dangerous for one reason: They were strong and clever enough to actually grow old.

 

“This _is_ his home!” The blonde snarls, anger fogging his mind and driving away all reason.

 

“His family needs him.” Uta stops short, eyes widening behind his mask.

 

“W-what?” Renji mutters painfully and Uta takes a step forward.

 

“Arata has been caught.” The old man holding Renji says and the young mang tenses.

 

“T-Touka… Ayato?” Uta knows those names, wishes Renji hadn’t uttered them, that he didn’t look so scared.

 

“Missing.” They’ve taken Renji’s mask off and he’s looking at Uta with pleading eyes. He’s asking Uta to let him go. The fight leaves the peacemaker at the sight of his helpless mate, and the two unknown ghouls move on with Renji. Uta’s left alone, and he stands there for a long time, trying to explain to himself that Renji’s family is important to him, that he’ll come back when everything’s sorted out. That is why they picked a fight with the Doves in the first place. So he could go home. They picked a fight so Renji could go home again. So he could go home and see his family again.

 

The thought leaves him cold and heartbroken.

 

When he enters the hideout, Itori is upon him in seconds, looking him over, tugging at his clothes, yanking his mask off to make sure he is unharmed.

 

“U-chan! When you didn’t return I- Where’s Ren-chan?”

 

“Gone.” He says hollowly, and she turns as white as a sheet, thinking the worst. It wasn’t far from the truth, now was it, he thinks. Renji is gone, and he is badly injured. Uta never stopped to think that Renji may not have known the ghouls who had carried him off.

 

“He went home.” He says instead, in a half-hearted attempt at not scaring her any more than he already has as he takes back his mask.

 

“B-but this is his home.” It is. It really is, isn’t it?

 

“His family’s home.” Uta corrects himself and stumbles up the stars, falling onto the bed, nose tickled with the scent of Renji and Itori still fresh on the sheets. He holds up the mask, staring at it before a vicious snarl curls his lips and he jumps up on his knees, hurling the mask as hard as he can towards the wall with an angry shout. It shatters on impact, right beside Itori’s cheek as she enters the room. Her eyes widen as she stares at him, watches him heaving for breath and practically breathing fire. He stares back, eyes narrowed in anger, red irises blazing with fury and hurt, and then he falls back onto the bed and turns his back on her the moment she takes a few steps in.

 

“U-chan-“

 

“Not now.”

 

“U-chan, I-“

 

“ _Not now, Itori-san.”_

 

“Can I lay down?” He doesn’t answer, but he doesn’t tell her to leave either, so she lays down behind him, one hand cautiously gripping the back of his jacket. Neither say anything for a long while. Uta isn’t angry with her, he’s hurt by something Renji did, but Itori refuses to believe that Renji has actually left them for good. If he went to his family’s place, he must have done so for a very good reason. But she can’t say that out loud to Uta, not now, not when he’s trembling as terribly as he is. She knows what triggered this reaction from him, because he told her of his own past once, when drunk, and she has never brought it up to him, just kept on making sure he will never feel that way again. Now he is though, and she has to try to make him think of something else.

 

“He loves us, Uta.” She says instead, and the blonde turns around, wrapping his arms around her and tucks his head beneath her chin. He will never admit it, but she feels a wetness on her skin and she know he’s crying.

 

“He’ll come back.” Itori is surprised to see her friend so sad, to feel him actually crying. She’s never once seen him grief-stricken over the years they’ve known each other. She’s seen him angry, but most of the time he smiles and jokes. Perhaps, she thinks, that is his self-defence mechanism, to laugh and crack jokes so that he won’t fall apart on the inside.

 

“You’ll see. He’ll sort out whatever happened with his family and come home.” She says and she can feel him nod, the longs strands of his hair brushing the skin beneath her chin. He doesn’t trust his own voice not to break. Itori hums another melody, one taught to her by Fukui, and runs her hands up and down his back. For the first time since she met him, Uta is in need of actual comfort. She helps him out of his jacket, his shirt and pants, and she pulls off her own clothes carefully before pulling him close again, just holding him and singing softly. She doesn’t comment on the glassy eyes or the thin tear tracks down his cheek. She just lets him curl up against her and hold her close. Even if Renji might be gone for a while, she is not going anywhere.

 

She tries calling Renji after a couple of days has passed, but that proves to be a flop when she realizes his cell phone is at the hideout. Three whole weeks pass by without the two of them hearing from him and even Itori grows worried. And angry. She’s doing her best to clean up the mess they made when they were goading on the investigators, to mop up the last of them and hiding the ghouls and keeping a low profile mostly. Uta’s declared that to be his last act as the peacekeeper of the fourth ward, wrapping it all up. He’s decided to open the mask shop he’s been talking about for a while now and she thinks it’ll do him good.

 

The door opens, and she pauses her movements over the papers on the table, the scent that washes over her making her look up slowly, not quite sure if she can believe it when she sees Renji stand in the doorway, awkward and hesitant. He knows he’s been gone for too long without contacting them. Itori is angry, has promised herself to give him a thorough scolding and beating when he came back, because Uta was honestly so broken about him leaving and it had scared her, but now that he stands there all she wants to do is hug him and cry.

 

So she runs up and throws herself at him, crying and yelling, though the words are lost in translation as the tears muddles them all. He doesn’t move.

 

“Itori-“

 

“Shut up and hug me, you neanderthal!” she manages to say that much, and then her words are a blubbering mess again. He does as told though, and the grip is nearly crushing her, yet it is still not enough. It is not nearly enough for what he has put them through.

 

“You stupid idiot! We were so worried!” She blubbers, suddenly pushing him away and hitting his chest repeatedly with closed fists. There’s not much bite to her hits though. She is far too relieved to see him okay to do any damage.

 

“Ugh! You deserve to have some sense _punched_ into you, you stupid moron!” He lets her vent, she deserves to let it out and he did leave them in the dark for too long. He knows he should have called earlier, but he had to get Touka and Ayato under control first. It has been no easy task, and there is still much work to be done, but he had to come back to them. Being away for so long feels unnatural, wrong, and it is a relief to be back. Despite the fact that he’s sure they’re going to mop the floor with him.

 

“Where’s Uta. I need to talk to the both of you.”

 

“He’s out. Ren-chan, he was really hurt when you left, I’m not sure he’ll want to listen to you.” Itori says, gnawing on her lip. Uta’s just managed to pull himself together, and while she’s happy Renji’s back, she’s not so sure Uta will react in the same manner as her despite sharing her sentiments.

 

“I didn’t leave you. I had to find Touka and Ayato. They’re my family, they are important to me too.”

 

“Well, look at that.” Renji turns and Itori peeks around him. Renji is surprised, because while the style of dress and smell and voice is unmistakably Uta, his hair colour is wrong. He is no longer blonde, he’s dark haired but the hair is held away from his face by a familiar thin pink hairband. He’s leaning against the doorway with his shoulder, arms crossed across his chest and smirking, but there’s no mirth to it. Itori doesn’t like the sight of that and hopes Uta will listen to what Renji has to say. One look at him tells her he won’t though, so she skips around the taller ghoul to grab hold of the dark haired one before a one-sided fight can break out.

 

“He came back just like I said he would. Please listen to him, U-chan, I want to hear his explanation.” The dark-haired ghoul doesn’t look away from Renji, even as Itori steers him towards the couch she had jumped up from earlier.

 

“I’m sorry I didn’t contact you.” Renji begins and apparently that’s as far as Uta’s patience can reach.

 

“Three fucking weeks, Renji!” He snaps viciously, crossing his arms over his chest, fingers digging into the fabric of his jacket. “Three fucking weeks and we didn’t even know if you were dead or alive!”

 

“I am sorry.” Renji says again, truly looking the part, but to his credit he keeps eye-contact with them.

 

“But Touka and Ayato were missing and Kirishima is most likely dead, if the trails are anything to go by. I had to go back.”

 

“Did you find them?” Itori asks before Uta can throw in a snide or hurtful remark that will not help any of them. Renji nods.

 

“Congratulations, you’re the uncle of the year.” Uta sneers and Renji visibly shrinks in front of them. Itori growls in warning and elbows Uta in the side.

 

“If you can’t shut up and let him talk, you can go somewhere else.” She knows Uta in all honesty wants to hear Renji’s reasons, that he’s just hurt, but he needs to give the other male a chance. Renji didn’t leave them, he never will, she knows this and Uta knows this. But emotions are hard to control, and Uta is usually keeping his to himself behind a mask. It is usually not a problem, but this touched on a very sensitive subject for the half-ghoul.

 

“They’re thirteen and eleven. They’re just kids, I-I had to find them before the CCG did. They were killing left and right, leaving trails…” He seems very conflicted.

 

“Did they remember you?” He shakes his head.

 

“They weren’t exactly happy with me barging in and pulling them off the streets. They’ve been on their own for years and I didn’t know.” He looks unbearably guilty and Itori frowns.

 

“It’s not your fault-“ She begins but he shakes his head.

 

“It is. I told Kirishima that it was his fault my sister died, the one who should have died was him, but Arima was out for Hikari, not him, and he ran to save the kids because she told him to. She was the better fighter… And now I’ve learned that he did the same thing as me the last few years. He cannibalized to become stronger and that ended up with him getting noticed and the kids running. I made him do something stupid, and he grew into a kakuja.” The redhead’s eyes widen and Uta’s arms uncross. Kakuja. It’s almost like a forgotten legend amongst the ghouls. Not everyone believes it’s possible to become one, or that it ever existed amongst their kin.

 

“I came back now because I’ve finally gotten them to promise to listen to me, and I need to ask you to please be patient with me.”

 

“What do you mean?” Already Itori feels like she doesn’t like where this is going and neither does Uta, because the scowl which had slowly been fading as Renji explained everything comes back full force.

 

“He’s leaving again.” Uta cuts in and slouches in his seat.

 

“It’s not for good!” Renji quickly cuts in and Itori falls back too, hurt etching across her face.

 

“I promised I would take care of them, but I don’t want them in the fourth ward. I’ll visit whenever you want me to, but until they’re old enough to take care of themselves I have to stay with them. Please, understand that.”

 

“Did you think about how _we_ would feel about this?” Uta asks quietly.

 

“You’re not children. You can take care of yourselves and I’m _not_ leaving you, I’m not saying I stopped loving either of you, I just want to help the part of my family that needs it. I don’t want them to go through what we all did. I know you’re not fine with it, I wouldn’t have been either if the roles were reversed, but… _please._ ” Neither Uta nor Itori has ever heard Renji speak so much while still sober and they do understand, really they do. Renji has an opportunity to make up for lost time and save two children from growing up in the same horrific way they all did. It still hurts though.

 

“Do you even care about us?” It’s a low blow, and Itori jabs Uta with her elbow again, but there’s no strength to her movement.

 

“I _love_ you.” They’re all quiet after Renji’s declaration, but Uta stands up after a while, glaring at Renji.

 

“You’re lucky I love you too.” He finally says. “If you don’t show up at least once a week, if you don't call, I’ll hunt you the fuck down and beat the shit out of you, kids or no kids.” He growls a final warning before he storms up the stairs. They listen to him ascend the stairs and then proceed to slam every door he passes through before it’s finally quiet.

 

“He’s actually happy you’re back.” Itori tries with a small smile.

 

“Didn’t sound like it.” Itori heaves herself up from the couch and heads over to her lover, embracing him in a comforting manner. She is better at showing her emotions, better at not exploding in a fit of rage and use them in a way that makes the receiver understand her intentions.

 

“He was really hurt. He understands that your niece and nephew are important too, but it still hurt. You know I was used and abused but U-chan… U-chan was abandoned.” It isn’t her tale to tell, but Renji doesn’t know this and perhaps her telling him this would make it easier for him to understand Uta’s point of view of the entire situation. The silver-haired ghoul stiffens in her hold, breath catching in his throat.

 

“Just make sure he knows that you’ll always come back, okay?” He doesn’t answer, but he ascends the stairs when she nudges him towards them. She watches him walk up and hears him knock on the door before she leaves. She doesn’t need Renji to reassure her that he has no intention of leaving them, that he still loves them, because she can understand where he comes from. She saved Nana when she was ten, visits her often at Fukui’s orphanage and does what she can in the ward to make sure no one lurks after young girls. She understands. Uta does too, but he needs the reminders more than her. She chuckles wryly, because when had their roles reversed?

 

She knocks on the door and Nana herself opens the door, smiling brightly when she sees who it is.

 

“Itori-nee!”

 

“Hello, Nana-chan. Can I come in?”

 

“Of course!” She moves aside so Itori can enter, before excitedly pulling her to the kitchen.

 

“Do you need anything to eat? Drink?”

 

“No, that’s okay. Is Fukui-san here?”

 

“Oh, no she went out to walk Sera-chan.”

 

“Does she still cry like a siren?” Itori asks and the fourteen-year-old flops into a chair beside her.

 

“Every night. All babies cry a lot, but she’s on a level of her own.” Itori giggles and wraps an arm around her shoulders, bringing her close.

 

“But you’re being a big help, I’m sure of it.” She praises and the girl giggles too.

 

“How did it go? The attack on the investigators?” Nana asks and Itori purses her lips.

 

“It wasn’t actually a fight. We were trying to help a friend.”

 

“It didn’t go well?”

 

“He got really hurt. It was Ren-chan, and he just returned today. I left the house because he and U-chan needs to talk it out. U-chan is quitting as the peacemaker, by the way, but we’ll still help you guys with food.”

 

“You don’t have to, really. Aina hunts for us, and granny knows of a lot of suicide sites. I can start hunting-“

 

“You will not!” Itori cuts in sternly, and Nana startles backwards at the sudden hard look in the older ghoul’s eyes. “You don’t have to hunt, therefore you shouldn’t. U-chan and me will provide for you. Don’t do anything unnecessary to attract attention to the orphanage.”

 

“But I won’t stay here forever, Itori-nee.” Nana points out. “At some point I will move out and lead my own life. If I’m going to survive, I need to know how.” Itori knows this, and wishes Nana could stay a young girl forever, to stay in Fukui’s little home and be safe, like the other children.

 

“No, you won’t, I guess.” The redhead sighs, hugging the girl closer. “I wish you would though. Keep to the suicide hot spots, kiddo, it keeps you out of the search light.” She says, perching her chin atop the girl’s head.

 

“But Itori-nee-“

 

“Once you’re a grown up yourself you’ll realize it. It sucks being a grown up, trust me on this. I wish I could be a teenager forever.”

 

“Wouldn’t that be boring? Always having to listen to the adults?”

 

“Once upon a time I thought so too.” Not really, she hated listening to the adults, because the adults sold her body. But being someone who needs to be cared and provided for is nice, what little of it she knows through Uta, that is.

 

“But at some point, you have to realize that the adults lived long enough to become adults because they were clever. They’ve experienced a lot. Fukui-san didn’t live to a ripe old age because she hurried to grow up and was eager to hunt.”

 

“Ripe old age?” Itori turns around with a sheepish grin on her face, seeing Fukui stand behind her with a baby in her arms, brow quirked up in a rather unimpressed manner. The ghoul may claim to be old and less sturdy and quiet than when she had been young, but she still managed to sneak up on Itori without even trying.

 

“It was a compliment?” The lady huffs and gives Itori the baby, who blinks and just stares down at her. She’s never held a baby before, not seen many of them either, and is not quite sure if she’s holding her right.

 

“She’d complain if you held her wrong.” Nana assures her when she picks up on the ginger’s confusion and Itori nods. She’s so small and fragile, and Itori wonders if she ever was like this, or Uta or Renji. It’s hard to imagine them so small and defenceless. She wonders how mothers dared to bring children into the world. She doesn’t want to do that; the world is far too cruel for her to want to bring a boy or girl into it. She also doesn’t think she’ll be able to live through perhaps losing a child to the humans like Fukui did. She’s more than satisfied with it being just her, Uta and Renji. She hopes they are too.

 

“So, are you and Uta-kun and Renji-kun done causing trouble?” Fukui asks as she hands Itori a bottle to feed Sera with. She shows Itori how to hold he bottle before taking a seat.

 

“Mm, U-chan’s quitting as peacekeeper.”

 

“Really?” Fukui seems very surprised as Itori divulges this information. “Shame. He did bring some peace to the ward, in his own way.” And she does look sad about it, but not in a way that makes Itori want to persuade Uta to continue being the peacemaker. She just appreciated that the old lady had enjoyed having the young half-ghoul as the protector of the ward and understands that he has been a good peacemaker.

 

“Mm.” Itori mumbles and jumps when the baby starts fussing. She quickly hands her back to Fukui who laughs at her cluelessness as she calms the infant down. The young woman pouts and crosses her arms and stays for a while longer until she’s absolutely sure Uta and Renji must be done talking. She takes her leave with the promise that she and Uta will continue to help out with rations before she skips down the streets. She is right. By the time she returns, Uta’s the only one left in the building. She finds him in the living room on the second floor, smoking a cigarette of all things.

 

“You don’t get to do that.” She swipes it from him and puts it out in her palm before tossing it into the ashtray.

 

“It’s not like it’ll cause any damage to me.” He mutters, watching her move to pull a bottle of blood out of the fridge. She walks back and plops on the couch next to him.

 

“No, but I don’t like the smell. Did you and Ren-chan talk it out?” He nods, moving his eyes to the roof, his head rolling back to rest against the back of the couch.

 

“Do you feel any better?”

 

“A little.” He admits. She watches him carefully, but he’s not putting up an act. He’s just finally showing how tired he is. She opens the bottle and takes a swig, offering it to him too. They get drunk, they play, wrestle and reminisce of when they were younger, before meeting Renji and after meeting Renji but never before they met each other. Those memories are better left locked away. They have fun, and the next morning when they wake up on the couch, Uta doesn’t look sad or tired anymore.


	8. Be The Adult

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Itori thinks Uta is behaving like a brat

It takes time to get used to the fact that Renji isn’t living with them anymore, but they manage because Renji does keep up his end of the deal. He visits at least twice a week, more often than not he visits more, and Itori has found time to visit him as well because unlike Uta, she doesn’t have a shop to look after. Yet. His shop does work out wonderfully too. Lots of ghouls come to get masks and he’s drowning in requests and he loves it. Most of his customers give him free reign and he delights in the procedure of learning who they really are and making masks that will fit them.

 

“Told you that you should have made much more before opening the shop.” Itori cackles as she skips out, leaving him to pout after her. His shop has actually been open for two whole years already, but most ghouls want custom made masks instead of the ones already finished and resting in displays, and he is more than happy to deliver. She’s not really in any situation to laugh at him though. She’s stressing out with the tiny bar she’s bought in the 14th ward, though she’s getting help from Renji and his niece and nephew to get it ready in time. While the niece is nice enough and polite when the situation demands it, her younger brother is rash and hot-headed and there is literally no filter on that big mouth of his.

 

“He’s like you when we met, except he talks a whole lot more.” She tells Renji and Ayato doesn’t take that too well. He launches himself at her and she trips him over, causing him to roll across the floor and crash into the bar-counter. Renji rubs the bridge of his nose, already feeling a head-ache sneaking up on him and Touka burst out laughing loudly. The boy glares at her as he gets up on his feet again and Itori crosses her arms, looking down at him, lips curled upwards.

 

“Don’t give me that look, boy. You started it.” He looks like he’s about to say something but Renji butts in.

 

“Ayato, don’t. She’ll mop the floor with you. Just… Help us out and you’ll get paid for it.” The boy mutters curses beneath his breath, glaring up at Itori who just sighs when he and his sister leaves the room to start carrying the boxes in.

 

“You’ve gotten yourself into a pickle, Ren-chan.” He looks her way and she shakes her head. Ayato is far too much like Renji. Itori believes that one day that boy will get into serious problems with his volatile temper and the chances of him being as lucky as his uncle with the outcome are slim.

 

“Just by looking at Fukui-san I know that raising kids is hard work, especially ones who had to live on the streets and take care of their selves for a while. You’ve got your work cut out for you.” Renji, however, has a more positive outlook on the situation, though that may be because he lives with the teenagers, knows them better and because they have come a long way since he found them on the streets.

 

“It’ll be alright. Touka’s started attending school last year and working part-time at Yoshimura-san’s place. Ayato’s getting there too. He follows me on corpse-collecting.”

 

“Oh, is she wearing the uniform? She must look super adorable in it.” He rolls his eyes, not at all surprised about her speaking of the uniform when he mentioned Touka’s part time job because outfits really are what she thinks more about than anything else when it comes to jobs, and moves to help her fill the shelves behind the bar with human liquor. After all, she had made him sit through several sessions where she showed him what outfits she wanted her own workers to wear before she bought the damn building. She hums and glances his way before picking up a few bottles and settling them on the highest shelf she can reach, before speaking again.

 

“Oh, speaking of that uniform, do you still have yours? You looked really hot in it.” He nearly drops a bottle, flushing bright red and she laughs at the sight. He is still so easy to fluster, and that is one of the many things she loves about him. He gives her a look that tells her to put a sock in it and stop joking around, but she doesn’t heed the warning.

 

“You should wear it the next time you come over. U-chan likes it _very, very much._ ” She purrs, and he swipes at her.

 

“Stop that!”

 

“Oooh, did you start imagining our next weekend? Is that why you’re blushing? Naughty naughty!”

 

“Fucking hell, Itori!” He growls as she jumps over the bar to put some distance between them when he reaches for her, heels clicking against the floor lightly.

 

“I’m just teasing, though it’s also the truth. It’s just so much fun when you blush, Ren-chan!”

 

“You damn adults should work too!” Both turn to look at Ayato who’s still cussing beneath his breath as he struggles with a big box. Itori hurries over and takes it from him before he can drop it to the floor and he glares when he realizes she doesn’t struggle with the heavy box at all. He begins to wonder how strong she really is, because that dress hides absolutely nothing, and he doesn’t see much muscle on her. And the heels on her shoes are ridiculously high, even Touka thinks so. How is she not tripping over herself?

 

“It’ll come with age and exercise, kiddo!” Itori calls over her shoulder when she feels his glare burn into her back as she sets the box on the counter for Renji to take.

 

“Haven’t you been training them properly, Ren-chan?” She tuts, but he doesn’t answer.

 

“We’re plenty strong! We don’t need him to train us!” The way the teenager literally spits his words and how Renji just looks away bothers Itori greatly. The boy thinks himself stronger than anybody because he is physically gifted like his uncle and has survived on his own for some time but that is just arrogance. There are far stronger people out there in this city they call home, and she thinks he may need a reminder of that. She wants to see him beaten in a fight, even if such a scenario might bother Renji more than he’ll show.

 

“Ayato!” Touka grabs her brother’s shoulder, frowning at him, before looking up at their uncle with apologetic eyes. “I’m sorry, Renji-nii-“

 

“Oh, right, you guys haven’t met U-chan yet, have you?” A steely glimmer in Itori’s eyes cause the two teenagers to back away a bit, suddenly growing very nervous. The glare on Ayato’s face melts away slowly and Touka tightens her grip on him.

 

“Itori.” Renji warns, reading her intentions easily, and she backs off, throwing the idea away for now and the heavy tension in the air disappears, and it’s like nothing ever happened. Instead she turns the conversation in the direction she’s wanted it to go for some time now.

 

“It’s been two years, Ren-chan. You should introduce them. U-chan would like that. And one day they’re going to need masks.” Renji doesn’t feel too happy about her words, but she is right, even though she is also partly lying. Even though they have calmed down some, no longer irrationally hunting and killing and getting into fights with every ghoul or investigator they come across, they still hunt and it’s just a foolish dream to think that the investigators will always leave the twentieth ward alone. He can’t ask them to stop hunting, even if he can provide for all three. That is the one thing he can’t ask them not to do. They have been behaving well the last two years, Touka going to school and working a part time job, Ayato grudgingly agreeing to be home-schooled by Fueguchi Ryoko along with her daughter and helping him collect corpses for the people of the twentieth ward. The least he could do is teach them how to properly fight, which he tries to do, and let them hunt. For their safety, they will need masks at some point or other. And there is no one better than Uta, whom he is very proud to call mate.  

 

“Tomorrow. After school.” He says, glancing their way. There’s no argument to be heard from them and Itori grins.

 

“Great! I’ll tell him.” She claps her hands happily, before leaning on her elbows over the counter again, grin turning sly and a slight dust of pink colouring her cheeks.

 

“And Ren-chan. Please take your old uniform with you this weekend.”

 

“God damnit Itori!” The teenagers are confused but both show good judgement and don’t ask. Itori thanks them afterwards, because they have been a great help to her. If she had to do this all alone it would have taken a lot longer. She’s still not completely done, but she should be able to do the rest on her own. The walls are a bit bare, but she can do something with that as she goes along. Maybe hang some of Uta’s masks along them?

 

 _‘No, that would scare human customers and cause suspicion.’_ She thinks as she heads back to the fourth ward. Uta’s still hunched over his work-shop in the back, needle in hand and swiftly sewing coloured cloths and leather together. She heads over and peeks over his shoulder before resting her chin on it.

 

“Will you do another all-nighter?” She asks quietly, hoping he’ll say no because sleeping in that bed alone is lonely, even if the scent of both her lovers are strong and wrap around her. Even if their smells linger, the loss of their actual physical bodies and their heat affected her rest.

 

“Hmm, no. No need.” He says, laying the partially done mask down, turning to look at her and holding out an eyeball. “Hungry?”

 

“Very.” She says, opens her mouth and lets him pop it in before she straightens up. “Oh, by the way, Ren-chan is coming by with Touka and Ayato tomorrow.” She sees how his shoulders tense and moves to massage them, knowing that the prospect of tomorrow suddenly seems a lot less pleasing to him. Her actions do nothing to alleviate the tension in his body though and she sighs.

 

“You’ll have to meet them at one point. They’re actually quite nice.” It isn’t that Renji ever avoided bringing them over, it is simply that Uta ‘ _never had the time’_ to meet them, or so he always claimed. The silver-haired ghoul gave up after half a year of rejections. Itori, on the other hand, had been eager to meet them, and had come by their apartment when Renji invited his mates over the first time.

 

“Do it for Ren-chan. He wants you to be a part of it too.” She hopes that appealing to their silver-haired mate’s feelings will help her convince the mask maker. The raven-haired ghoul is silent for a few minutes before speaking again, voice more quiet than usual.

 

“Will they need masks?” She hums in wonder, before shrugging.

 

“Who knows. At some point, probably, but I’m not sure they need it yet.” He’s hiding, trying to find a reason to not see them, because they are the reason Renji isn’t with them anymore, but she’ll have none of it. Uta is not allowed to hide and be a coward, not when she is brave enough to look the teenagers in the eye and accept that they exist and that they are important to Renji. If she can do it, he can too.

 

“They are coming, you are going to introduce yourself in a polite and nice manner and stop acting like a child.” He shrugs her hands off of him harshly and grabs the mask, continuing to work on it.

 

“Fine.” He says curtly, and she sighs. She has upset him, but there’s no way around it. She’ll let him be, let him calm down on his own because no matter what she says now it will not better his mood. She’ll wait upstairs, she thinks, and ascends the stairs, relaxing on the couch. It’s way past midnight when he walks up the stairs. She’s halfway down a bottle of blood wine when he opens the door to the apartment. She watches as he stares at her, eyes blank and thoughts hidden from her, until he walks over and plops onto the couch beside her, exhaling. She doesn’t say anything, she just fills the second glass she had pulled out and hand it over to him. Blood wine is meant to be sipped, but he downs it quickly and she fills the glass up again. They sit there for a long time, neither saying anything, until Uta puts the glass on the table and pulls her into his lap.

 

“Have I been behaving like a brat?”

 

“For two years.” She says, leaning away to put her own glass onto the table, then wriggles until she can stretch her legs across the couch and rest her head over his clavicle. He brushes a hand through her long red hair, sighing. It seems like he can’t stop, and she feels sad that he has been feeling that he needs to avoid the children, because they’re good. Because of them, Renji has calmed down, grown up, he is no longer stuck in the past, thirsting for revenge, he’s looking towards the future and doing his best to stay alive. She is thankful for that, Uta should be too.

 

“You’ll like them.”

 

“Not sure I want to.”

 

“You’re acting like a child again.”

 

“Are you going to point it out whenever I say or do something?” He tugs on her hair and she pokes his side, causing him to jerk.

 

“Yes.” He makes a sound like a complaint but doesn’t move or push her away or tell her to mind her own business. She pulls on his shirt and traces the sun tattoo, then noses the words around his neck. One for each of them, and the ones on his arm tells a story she doesn’t quite understand, though they are very well made and damn him if they don’t look good on him too.

 

One bottle becomes two, then three and the next morning they wake up on the couch, realizing that Renji and his charges will be right around the corner soon enough. They scramble for their clothes and hurry into the shower. Renji might not care much if they smell like each other, but it will be more than embarrassing for the teenagers, and once Uta has come to the decision that he wants to make a good first impression they decide to make it less awkward. For them and Renji. Itori begins cleaning up the mess they made of bottles and glasses and splatters of blood wine when they hear it.

 

They hear the door open downstairs and Itori jogs down, seeing the two youths look around curiously.

 

“Oh, you’re here early!” They don’t think so. School is over, it is already past five in the afternoon. Itori stares at the clock hanging on the wall before rubbing the back of her head sheepishly.

 

“Ops.”

 

“You mean to tell me the shop’s been closed all day?” Renji raises a brow just as Uta descends the stairs.

 

“I planned on staying closed today anyways. Given the… occation.” The mask maker informs, his damp hair sticking to his skin. He stops beside Itori, hands stuffed in his pockets, and appearing to be as calm and placid as ever. For the two who know him though, they notice the barely there shuffling of his feet and shifting of shoulders. Uta is honest to god awkward and nervous about this, or perhaps not as much nervous as he is unsure of what to do, how to act, what to even say after avoiding this for two whole years. Thankfully Touka takes the first step before the silence grows too heavy.

 

“I’m Touka.” She bows politely, and he bows back.

 

“I’m Uta.” Ayato is a bit grumpier about it, but he inclines his head too.

 

“Ayato.” Uta blinks, looking back and forth between Renji and the teenager before turning his head towards Itori.

 

“You’re right, he is like Raven.”

 

“Oi!” Both uncle and nephew snap, only to pause, for two very different reasons. Ayato turns towards his uncle, eyes narrowed, but there’s no denying the slight wonder in them.

 

“You’re Raven? _The_ Raven?” The silver haired ghoul makes a sound close to a grunt of annoyance and his mates blink.

 

“Of _all_ the things you could have withheld from them, your alias is the one?” Itori groans and Touka, whose eyes have widened considerably, turns towards them. If their uncle is Raven, then…

 

“Which means… You’re No Face and Snickers?”

 

“I fucking hate that name.” Itori mutters beneath her breath as Uta nods. Even now, years after they had put the role as peacemaker of the fourth ward on the shelf, they are still infamous in their ward, and others as well, apparently. Perhaps even more so to these two, who most likely knew what investigator it was who killed their mother. The story of how a group of ghouls from the fourth ward had attacked Arima’s squads isn’t something that had been withheld from the public, considering how the ghouls had lost. The CCG never hesitates to tell the world whenever they win against the ghouls. It had been a terrible day for all three of them, and it had ended with the situation being as it was now. Renji living in a different ward with these two teenagers instead of being with his mates.

 

But it seems like this new information has made the teens a bit more interested in being in Uta’s shop and meeting him. They bombard him with questions while Itori and Renji stand off to the side, watching. To Itori it seems like Uta has calmed down a bit and is almost enjoying himself. She’s happy to see that and turns to Renji.

 

“You okay?”

 

“I’m just… glad he would finally meet them.”

 

“Me too. He was just… a bit worried about how he’d feel about the whole thing, but it looks like it’s going to be alright.” Later on, after the trio has left and only Itori and Uta are left, they go out on a hunt. Itori has come far, Uta finds himself smiling as he hasn’t thought like this in years, thinking back to how she was when he first met her as he watches how she lures an oblivious man into a dark alley with her, showing legs, swaying her hips from left to right more than is actually necessary, lets the man push her into a wall and kiss her neck. It’s not that Uta feels particularly jealous, but he admits that he is possessive. The human thinks far too high of himself it he thinks he’s worthy of the redheaded woman. He drops down into the alley, standing behind the man who doesn’t notice. Peach coloured eyes open, looking rather bored as her hands move up to cup the sides of the man’s face, and she keeps eye-contact with Uta as she moves. An audible crack is heard as she breaks his neck and the human drops to the ground in a heap.

 

“Ugh, he slobbered all over me…” She makes a face of disgust, tilting her head to the side in a vain attempt at getting away from the drool on her skin. He tosses her his wrap sweater before kneeling down by the corpse and she wipes the drool away before digging into the body.

 

“Enjoy your meal.” She sings and he laughs quietly.

 

“I’m glad you made me meet them.” He says, plucking out the man’s eyes.

 

“Oh?” She hums, even though she knew all along he would be okay.

 

“They’re nice kids. Renji-kun’s lucky.” They’re lucky too, because they have Renji. Renji is their mate, and no matter how many nieces and nephews he has to raise, he will always belong with them.

 

“He’ll be coming over this weekend.” Itori says off-handedly, and Uta glances up at her, pausing in his search for the liver.

 

“I made him promise to bring his old uniform.” Uta snickers and goes back to digging through their victim’s body, a smirk stretching across his face as several scenarios of how their weekend will be, plays in his mind like a never ending arousing show.

 

“How _fun_.”


	9. Hello Again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The upwards curl of Itori's lips is seven years long overdue

Itori’s beneath Uta, and she is thoroughly enjoying the show. His eyes are glazed over, and whimpers and moans leave him in time with every sharp snap of Renji’s hips. His arms and legs shake terribly with the effort he puts in on keeping himself up so as to not crush her and Itori runs her hands up and down his sides, ghost over his flushed cheeks and push his hair out of the way. She smiles up at him, pushing herself up to kiss him.

 

“How is it, U-chan? Is it good? Is Ren-chan treating you well?” She purrs and he whines as Renji hits a particularly good spot. His arms nearly give up on him and she chuckles at the gasp that escapes him.

 

“Sounds like it.” Her eyes are black and red, the dark veins standing out against her skin. She feels like she is on fire herself, but she can’t bring herself to look away. She’s not been in a position to watch the other two often in the past. Most times they are all a mess at this point, but this time she’s decided to play a little game. A certain game Uta has played on her several times in the past, and Renji is going to help her with her revenge. His moans pitch higher and she tweaks a nipple, laving over the other with her tongue and his head fall forward, the muscles in his stomach tensing and then she gestures for Renji.

 

And the silver-haired ghoul stops moving.

 

Uta’s eyes shoot open and he stares at her wide-eyed as she grabs the base of his member and squeezes.

 

“Ah, no, don’t-“

 

“Hmm, but it’s so much fun, U-chan. This is revenge for all the times you teased me.” She grins cheekily at him as Renji smirks behind them and pulls out completely. Uta protests, but she cuts him off with a kiss before Renji yanks him back to have his back pressed flush against his chest. Itori follows and presses her chest against Uta’s, pulling on his hair to expose his throat and she leaves bite-marks all over the pale skin.

 

“Please-“

 

“Ah-ah.” She pulls back when she feels him try to grind against her, attempting at finding relief and Renji’s hands settle firmly on the lanky man’s hips to stop his movements. “You’re only making this harder for yourself, U-chan. Be cooperative and we’ll let you come.” He tries hard to obey, to stay still as they let their hands roam all over him but pointedly avoiding the places he needs their touch the most. He is far from quiet though. The two enjoys the sounds he makes, the pitch of his voice whenever they come across an erogenous zone and how he is desperately begging them to do _more,_ and how he whines when they don’t.

 

“I’ll get… G-get back at… you for this.” He growls, and it would perhaps have sent a shiver down her spine in anticipation if it isn’t for the fact that he looks absolutely wrecked and is literally begging them to let him come.

 

“Mhm, I’m sure.” She goads him and suddenly she’s flat on her back, Uta’s hand pressing almost painfully into her shoulder to hold her down as he turns and fists one hand in Renji’s shirt, yanking him down with them.

 

He does get back at her, but at this point she doesn’t really mind.

 

What she does mind is the white substance leaking out between her legs afterwards. The innocent smile he throws her as she glares at him once she’s down from her high does nothing to sate her ire though. She kicks him off the bed, watching with satisfaction how he tumbles across the floor rather ungracefully.

  

* * *

 

 

It’s a slow evening, and that is fine with Itori. Sumi’s shift will be over soon, and that is fine too, because there isn’t really a need for him to be there even now. It’s nice when it’s almost quiet in her bar, her sharp ears picking up bits and pieces of the conversations between her guests and the music she has playing subtly in the background. Uta will come by when it’s time to close shop to walk her home. The CCG have been far too active lately and they don’t want to take any chances. There’s the quiet chime of the bell, signaling a new customer and Itori finishes serving her current one to welcome the new arrival only to falter in her steps. She recognizes that scent, though it is years since she last came across it, and while her hair has grown much longer than it was seven years ago it’s the same green eyes that meet hers now that it was years ago.

 

“Itori… san?” The woman asks uncertainly, not quite sure if she believes her eyes. Her eyes are red and puffy, but Itori knows them anyways, and a small smile graces her features, seven years long overdue.

 

“Shiori-san, welcome.” The ginger bows her head and gestures for Shiori to take a seat.

 

“What would you like?”

 

“Oh, some white wine, please.” She says quietly and Itori fills her a glass, sliding it over to her. She doesn’t ask about the quiet sniffles that leave the human, nor the tears that press on only to dry up again as she refuses to let them fall. None of her customers seem to need her at the moment either so she stays with the human from her past and watches her quietly sip from her glass.

 

“I never got to thank you.” Shiori looks up when Itori speaks, surprise colouring her features.

 

“Thanks to you, I managed to regain some control of my life.” Itori speaks out without holding back. Uta told her back then that he imagined that the human probably had understood what was going on, and now was Itori’s chance at thanking her for helping her along. She owes this human.

 

“Really?” The corners of her lips curl upwards as Shiori puts down her glass carefully. Her obvious sad mood brightening, if only slightly.

 

“Yes.” Itori subtly gestures to her bar. “I wouldn’t be able to stand here if it wasn’t for your help.”

 

“That’s nice to hear, but what about your friend?” So she remembers Uta too. Well, he is kind of hard to forget, even back then.

 

“Hm, U-chan has helped me a lot too, but I didn’t let him touch me either before you came along. I’d like to say you were the trigger for me feeling safe again. So, thank you so much.” She bows deeply, hears the woman stutter and hears the blood rush through her body. When she looks up the woman’s face is scarlet, and she averts her eyes, though smiling shyly.

 

“I-I see.” She looks a bit happy with the thought, and they fall into a comfortable silence as Itori moves around behind the bar and Shiori takes a look around. It’s a modest bar, not too big but it’s nice and classy still. The bar counter is sleek and black, spotless with how Itori and her second bartender, a tall intimidating bald man, wipes it affectionately with a cloth they throw over their shoulders. The customers sit in small cubicles and talk quietly, the ones at the counter don’t talk at all, and it’s kind of odd, but she doesn’t comment on it. She takes a look at the wall, dark wood and warm and several subtle coloured paintings with very abstract designs. They’re very pretty, she thinks, and she wonders where Itori got a hold of them.

 

“Would you like another?” Shiori blinks, looking at the empty glass in her hands. She isn’t paying much attention to anything, it seems.

 

“Please.” As Itori fills the glass she looks up. “So, a bar huh?”

 

“You like it?” Itori beams. “U-chan and Ren-chan helped me get it and furnish it.”

 

“Ren-chan?” The human asks and Itori pauses, not quite sure if revealing that she is in a polyamorous relationship is something that Shiori will not frown upon. She doesn’t quite understand why, but she likes this human, wants her to stick around a little longer. Itori rationalizes that it most likely is because of Shiori’s role way back then, but it doesn’t explain everything. She wants to talk to this human more, but decides to tell her anyway.

 

“Me and U-chan’s boyfriend.” She says and Shiori blinks, speechless for a second, before she smiles, eyes crinkling with mirth.

 

“They treat you well, I hope?”

 

“Very.” Itori assures, and giggles quietly to herself when she recalls how Uta told her about Shiori’s parting words. She tells Shiori this and the woman blushes.

 

“I was young, don’t make fun of me.” The human groans, but the smile stays in place despite the pink dusting her cheeks. Itori finds her absolutely adorable.

 

“I like the décor, it’s nice and classy, but where did you get the paintings? They’re pretty unique.”

 

“U-chan made them. He’s good at crafting and painting.” Itori tells her and the human’s eyes widen. This she had not thought of the blonde teenager who brought her home to his apartment all those years ago.

 

“Really?”

 

“Mhm.” Shiori stays until it’s nearing closing time. Itori tells her to stay until she has escorted every last customer out, so Itori can walk her home afterwards. Shiori had argued first, but Itori wins her over, though it seems like she’ll have to wait for a bit. Itori is struggling with the last human customer as he has no intention of leaving until he’s good and ready to end his night. If Shiori had already left, Itori would have just killed him or tossed him out. He is so drunk that he would never have remembered a woman throwing him out anyway, but as she has a somewhat sober human there, Itori also has to play the human.

 

The human in question wonders if she should go and help the redhead, but then a man walks by her and up to them, clad in loose clothing, skin littered with piercings and tattoos, his hair put up in a pony tail showing off a shaven undercut. He walks straight over to Itori, grabs the man by the back of his shirt and arm and hauls him over to the door, tossing him out like he is a sack of potatoes. It’s a rather comical sight, really, how naturally the dark-haired man ignores the drunk man’s yells and struggles before tossing him out and how easily he does it. His loose clothing hides incredible strength. And he is _incredibly_ handsome with a sharp face, big eyes, full lips and high cheek bones, though his eyes are like that of a ghoul, or so she’s been told ghoul eyes look like.

 

“Thanks, U-chan.” Itori runs a hand through her hair, sighing, and Shiori does a double take. This tall, lean, long-haired man is the blonde teen from all those years ago? The human thinks to herself that the boy had aged _very well._

 

“Mm, he was annoyingly loud.” Uta says and Shiori turns away.

 

_“What the_ hell _happened to his voice?’_ It’s not like it was pitched all that high when she met him, but it is incredibly low and alluring now. How unfair, she thinks, pressing a hand over her heart in a useless attempt at calming down the quick heartbeats. When looking at both of them, both Itori and Uta seem otherworldly and Shiori feels rather plain. The mood she had been in when she entered the bar returns and her shoulders slump.

 

“U-chan, do you recognize her?” Itori brings him over to Shiori, who suddenly feel like she wants to be swallowed by a hole in the ground.

 

“Shiori-san.” She’s surprised when he speaks her name and gives her a small smile, just the smallest curl of his lips upwards. She never expected he would remember her.

 

“I-It’s been a while, Uta-san.”

 

“Yes, it has.”

 

“So talkative.” Itori rolls her eyes as she scribbles something down on a notepad and pulls the piece of paper off, handing it to the human.

 

“Here’s my number, Shiori-san. Give me a call sometime and return whenever you want.” The ginger says cheerily and the human nod with a smile of her own.

 

“I will.” She promises as she pulls on her jacket. Itori tells Uta that they have to walk Shiori home, but the human says that it is quite alright, that she can just get a cab. She’d rather not get in the way of the two of them and says that if it makes Itori feel better about it, she’ll text her when she is safe in her home. Itori accepts that, hugs the human tightly, rubbing their cheeks together like a cat would their owner before she waves goodbye. When Shiori unlocks her door, she sends Itori a text, as she had promised, and receives a beaming emoji back. Another smile finds its way on the human’s face that night and she must admit to herself that while the evening had started out horribly, it had ended rather well.

 

She goes to Helter Skelter often after that. She likes how, whenever she comes through the door, Itori’s eyes light up like the sun and how she stays with her for as long as she can. At times Uta’s there alone, but a few times he’s there with a silver-haired man, who she quickly learns is Yomo Renji, or Ren-chan as Itori calls him. The third man in their polyamorous relationship, so to speak. Shiori thinks it is incredible how they manage to keep such a relationship afloat. She finds it hard to compromise with just one person.

 

Renji doesn’t speak much, the dark-haired human learns, but give Uta the right to choose a topic and he will leap into a conversation enthusiastically. Though his face and eyes betray nothing but placidity, she can hear his eagerness in his voice. He has aged, he has become an adult, but when Shiori tells Itori about her thoughts, the redhead just laughs and tells her that Uta hasn’t changed a bit since he was a teenager.

 

“He just hides it well.” Shiori’s not sure what that means but doesn’t pry into it either. All she knows is that she’s happy they let her keep them company when she visits and that Itori wants to be her friend. It gives her a brighter outlook on life again, and she had lost that positivity some time ago.

 

She’s glad she walked into Helter Skelter.

 

Shiori no longer thinks she’s worth less than being a ghoul’s meal, and she no longer tries to find one to end her life. When Itori asks her why she seemed so sullen when she first came to Helter Skelter, Shiori tells her that she had gone through some rough times and really just wanted to die. And she came to Helter Skelter to drink herself courageous enough to go wandering the back alleys as easy prey. Itori frowns at that, and tells her to come by if she feels that way again. When she turns her back to the human to reach for a bottle on the higher shelf, a wry smile twisting her lips.

 

If only Shiori knew the irony.


	10. We Love You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Her name is Shiori, with the kanji for "poem" and "weave"

Itori has not been feeling too well lately, and neither Uta nor Renji are of _any_ help, so in an attempt at escaping their very unhelpful advice she had gone to the apartment above her bar. It hasn’t helped her much either, so she goes to visit Fukui. Perhaps some fresh air and a change of environments will help. Itori herself thinks that she’s just tired from the stress of managing the bar and being an informant. It’s been a lot to deal with lately, so she just thinks she’s exhausted from that. Still, it has been a while since she visited the orphanage, and Nana had called and complained about it a few weeks ago, so the redhead figures that since she’s got some free time, she might as well visit. Besides, the older ghoul might know what it is, if it actually isn’t stress.

 

But it has to be.

 

She can’t say she’s surprised when she’s almost run down by the children living in the home the moment she steps through the door.

 

“Itori-neechan!” They exclaim excitedly and the ginger smiles, letting herself be nearly toppled over by their excited greetings. A lot of the faces are new, have only been at the orphanage for a month or even a couple of weeks and everyone who lived here when she and Uta dropped Nana off are all already adults and living their own lives now. Except Nana. The girl stays, though she is only seventeen years of age, and Fukui isn’t comfortable with letting them go off on their own before they’re eighteen at the very least with a proper job. She struggles with letting them go even then, or perhaps it’s even worse because they’ve been with her for so long?

 

“Heya, kiddos! Is Fukui-san in?”

 

“In the kitchen!” One of the older ones tells her and she detangles herself form the herd of ghoul children. She finds the older ghoul in said room, her brown hair starting to show stripes of grey and the corners of her eyes have begun to wrinkle. She still looks rather young for pushing fifty.

 

“Oh? Itori-chan, what a surprise.” Fukui looks up, smiling from where she is cleaning up from after dinner. The smell of flesh and blood still lingers, but not overpowering. Itori still feels her stomach react though.

 

“Hello, Fukui-san. Do you mind helping me figure something out?” The older ghoul raises a brow but smiles and nods.

 

“Of course.” Itori grabs the dishrag Fukui hands her and begins drying the dishes the elder ghoul has washed.

 

“Ghouls don’t get sick.” Itori starts, and Fukui hums. Itori likes it, she likes listening to the older ghoul sing because her voice is soothing. It might be because Fukui is a sturdy pillar Itori have sought support from whenever Uta or Renji aren’t around.

 

“But I’ve been nauseous lately, and tired, and my legs have cramped up a lot. Ren-chan says I’ve been slacking off, but just because I don’t exercise as much as he does it does not mean I’m lazy, so I doubt it’s because of that.” She pouts, and Fukui pauses her cleaning, glancing at the younger female. Itori is right, ghouls don’t get sick and Fukui has experienced this herself. Once.

 

“You might have caught a bug.” The elderly ghoul says and hands Itori the last plate before drying her hands and leaving her alone in the kitchen. Itori stares after her, growing nervous as she drops the rag onto the counter. Fukui doesn’t return immediately, and Itori rubs her sweaty palms on her jeans, well, Uta’s jeans. The man is infuriatingly narrow around the hips. They just barely fit her, and she feels a bit of annoyance and jealousy at the thought. When Fukui finally returns, she’s carrying a small box that makes her stomach drop. The older ghoul hands it over to her and she swallows loudly.

 

“Follow the instructions, my dear.” She tells the young woman and directs her to the bathroom. Itori does so and her complexion is ashen when she stumbles out of the bathroom. The children have come back to the kitchen by now, but Fukui ushers them out, telling them to go to the playground just around the corner. Nana furrows her brows, green eyes confused until they land on the object in Itori’s hands. She leads the group out, throwing a worried look at Itori when their caretaker tells them this is an adult matter. That comment earns her a hysterical giggle from the redhead in question.

 

“Positive, then?”

 

“Adult matter, you said.” She tangles her hands in her hair and tugs, nearly pulling a chunk of hair out. “I am not an adult!”

 

“You’re twenty-five.” Fukui deadpans, not at all moved by Itori’s hysteria.

 

“Physically does _not_ mean mentally.” Itori snaps, borderline panicking already.

 

“I was sixteen and all alone.” Fukui says and Itori looks up. “I didn’t have a job, I didn’t have a family or even friends, but I managed. You have a job, you have your lovers and they have jobs as well, not to mention most of the ghouls in the fourth ward respects you. You’ll be fine.”

 

“And what if I lose all of that the moment I tell U-chan and Ren-chan?” She asks quietly and Fukui scoffs, crossing her arms. It is weird but her stern words makes Itori calm down.

 

“You won’t lose your bar or job. If you lose Uta-kun and Renji-kun then they aren’t worth the trouble.” Itori doesn’t seem too reassured so the other ghoul tries again in a softer tone.

 

“But I doubt either of them will leave you, considering everything you’ve all already been through. You’re all adults now, you’ll get through this just fine, you just need to properly talk about it. But remember this Itori-chan, it is your choice.”

 

“H-how am I going to do this? If I keep it, how am I going to- I don’t know how- I don’t know how any of this works!”

 

“But I do. I’ll answer any question you have. But talk to your boyfriends first. Find help to make the right decision.” Itori stays for a couple of hours, putting on a mask when the children return and plays with them and when she leaves, she texts Renji to come to Uta’s shop once it’s past closing time. She needs to talk to them both and would rather not be interrupted by any of Uta’s customers and if she is to be honest with herself, she wants it over with quickly. Uta is the only one in the shop when she enters, and she hides her discomfort by peering over his shoulder to see what he is working on, before airily telling him she’ll go up and take a nap. She collapses onto his bed, burying her face in a pillow. She can only smell Uta, and deduces he must have changed the sheets after their last visit and she sighs. A hand falls to her stomach as her mind floods with thoughts.

 

Keep it or get rid of it? Is she even capable of raising a child? Are any of them? Renji have some experience, but that is with _teenagers_ and while it’s still a whole lot more than her and Uta, it’s not much. And then there is the big question: Do any of them _want_ a child? She herself had thought a couple of years ago that she _doesn’t_ want to bring a life into this cruel world. Renji have lost so much family already, would he want more he could risk losing? And Uta, as far she knew, doesn’t have any at all.

 

And then she thinks of another critical point to their relationship. Which one of them was the father? What if they both want the child and become jealous of each other? What if the pregnancy destroys their current relationship _and_ friendship?

 

By the time Uta’s locked the doors and come up the stairs, Itori is mentally exhausted. She’s lost count of how many times she’s started crying during the last few hours. All she knows is that her face is stained with tear tracks and the salt’s left her skin feeling crunchy and stiff. Uta crawls into the bed and snuggles up against her, arms wrapping around her middle, nose nudging her hair away to nuzzle against the back of her neck. He can sense the heavy atmosphere, but instead of asking her what’s wrong, he says something else.

 

“Missed you.” He breathes against her skin. Saying things like that usually cheers her up, while it is also the truth, but Itori doesn’t return the sentiment, nor does she smile or laugh. He blinks, but doesn’t move, doesn’t say anything more. All he does is lay there and wait for her to do anything. Her chest rise and fall slowly with each breath, her head is buzzing with a million thoughts still and show no intention of stopping any time soon. How can she tell him, how can she tell Renji? She wants to curl up and cry more, but it won’t give her any answers. She can end it all without ever telling them, live her life without ever looking back on this incident. She can turn around, smile and tell him that it is ridiculous that he missed her when she has only been gone for a few days, but hug him back anyways. But she can’t.

 

She really just… can’t.

 

“I’m pregnant.” She says instead after several minutes of silence, voice hollow and tired, and he goes completely still behind her. She waits for a reaction, anything negative response she can think of him articulating, but he doesn’t. He just turns her around to face him and he just stares, eyes wide.

 

“Really?” It’s not the question she expects from him, but she nods in affirmative. “No coffee then?” She blinks, not expecting the joke, but shakes her head. His lips curl upwards for a bit, and he tucks her head beneath his chin, holding her close. He seems to understand she needs support and she feels a bit better now, since he was still calm. She’s still not sure what he is thinking though.

 

“Have you called Renji-kun?” She nods.

 

“He’ll be here soon.” She says just before they hear heavy footsteps coming up the stairs. They hear shuffling about in the apartment and Itori presses her face into the raven-haired ghoul’s wrap sweater. Her heartbeat picks up a bit, Uta’s hand running up and down her back doing nothing to calm her down. Uta looks up as Renji enters the bedroom, but Itori doesn’t move. She’s still afraid. The silver-haired man frowns at the smell of tears, tilting his head at them but Uta gestures for him to come join them.

 

“It’s important.” He tells the other ghoul, who sheds his jacket and joins them and settles behind the redhead, hand linking with Uta’s over her hips. She jerks at the touch and both frown.

 

“What’s going on?” He’s asking Uta, but Itori breathes in deep and turns her head, watching as he props himself up on his elbow to be able to see her face better.

 

“I’m pregnant.” Other than the widening of grey eyes, Renji doesn’t show much of an outwards reaction either. He just lays down and holds them both tight. Itori had expected a series of questions, outbursts, panic… something! But they are way calmer about it than she had been.

 

“You guys… got nothing to say?”

 

“What is there to say?” Uta mumbles, lips brushing over her forehead as he speaks. “It’s your body, it’s your choice.” She almost smiles at that. He’s always been thinking of how she feels and is still doing his best to make sure she knows she is in control. While she doesn’t think he needs to reassure her anymore, it is still nice.

 

“But, do either of you want a kid? And what about the fact that the father could be either one of you? Isn’t that an issue?” And thus she has broached the subject that may have worried her the most. She waits for her perfect little world to crumble with their next words.

 

“Should it be?” Renji mutters against her shoulder and she open her mouth, only to pause. Is it really an issue? Is she overthinking the entire situation?

 

“We’re in a relationship together. We can both be father figures, nothing wrong with having more than one dad. That’s nothing you need to worry about. As for whether or not we want kids, well, I’ve never thought about it, but I won’t really mind.” Uta says, lifting his head to look at Renji who nods.

 

“It’s all up to you.”

 

“Oh yeah, put all responsibility on me.” She snorts, but when they turn her onto her back and lay their joined hands on her stomach, she quiets down. Somehow it is intimate, knowing that they hold hands like this over her still flat stomach and it also feels like acceptance.

 

“It’s you who will have to carry and nurture it until it’s born, therefore it _is_ up to you. Do you want a child, Itori-san?”

 

“I… I don’t know.” She admits. She feels better hearing what their thoughts on the matter is. She can properly think on the matter now, knowing she had their support whatever her choice was. But for all the information and knowledge she has gathered over the years, this is a subject in which she is sorely left in the dark.

 

“I don’t know anything about pregnancy, or childbirth or even how to raise a kid.” She mutters.

 

“We’ll figure it out. Fukui-san probably has a lot of advice for us if we need help.” Uta presses a kiss to her bare shoulder.

 

“Would I even be a decent mom?” She thinks back on her own past. How can she raise a child properly when she herself doesn’t know what it’s like being one? She can’t remember a mother, how can she become one when she doesn’t have anyone to think back on?

 

“Would we even be half-decent dads?” Uta challenges and she glances up at him.

 

“I think you would, both of you. We know Renji did a good job with Touka-chan and Ayato-tan and they were a real handful. Almost as bad as the both of you.”

 

“Then you’ll be a great mom.” Renji says resolutely, leaving no room for arguments and Itori laughs, because if they believe it, she can too. And that is because Renji and Uta never lie to her.

 

“I need to think about it.” She declares finally, turning to face Renji and pulling on Uta’s arm so they’re pressed tightly together again.

 

“But not right now. Cuddles now.” She is thoroughly spoiled well into the night, light caresses and forehead kisses. Renji remembers the struggles his sister went through, and massages Itori’s feet and legs when she grudgingly admits that they are bothering her and Uta runs his hands through her hair, dark nails gently scraping against her scalp. She can honestly say she’s never been more comfortable in her whole life, nor felt safer.

 

When she wakes up the next morning, it’s almost unbearably hot. She feels the skin of Renji’s face sticking to the skin on her shoulder, his stubble scratching her with every little minute movement, one of Uta’s hands which had drifted beneath her tank-top burns the skin over her ribs, but she doesn’t have the heart to wake them up, they look so peaceful and they have done more than enough to ease her worries the night before. Showered her in loving gestures too.  What’s the most important though, is that she is absolutely certain that neither of them will leave her if she decides to keep the baby. She tries to imagine them shopping for essentials. Renji looks normal enough, no one would even bat an eyelid at him picking up diapers and wipes despite his stoic appearance, but she can imagine the cashiers’ expressions if Uta is to show up in all his pierced and tattooed glory. She can’t help the silent giggle that escapes her and said ghoul shifts and blinks sleep from his eyes.

 

“Wha?”

 

“Nothing.” She says quietly so as to not wake Renji up. “Just imagining what it would be like to go through with this.” He nuzzles her nose with his and presses closer, the hand beneath her shirt rubbing the skin over her ribs soothingly.

 

“Did it seem nice?” He asks, and she thinks on it a bit more, imagining her mates holding a baby, caring for it, playing with it and she nods. It does seem nice. She wonders, if she keeps it, will it be a girl or boy, which one of them is the father and then dread fills her. Humans and ghouls don’t mix, Uta’s existence is practically a miracle. If it is Uta’s, will the baby be enough of a human that her body will think it is food? Will she eat her own child unintentionally?

 

“What is it?” Uta notices how she stiffens, how her eyes widen, and dread fills them.

 

“If it’s yours... what if my body mistakes it for food?” She whispers urgently.

 

“It’ll be more ghoul than human. There’s no way it can be mistaken as food.” The dark-haired ghoul says, awkwardly petting her stomach from his position. Though he assures Itori this, he is having his own doubts now that she has brought it up. There is, unfortunately, no one he can ask, so they’ll be in the dark until the birth. If there ever will be one.

 

“Are you sure?” She whispers.

 

“Yes.” It seems to calm her down and she doesn’t bring it up again. Once they’ve all made a decision, only a select few are told about Itori’s pregnancy. Kado and Sumi are brought in to help out should Renji or Uta be otherwise occupied and not within range. Itori tells Shiori when she visits her bar, when the human wonders why she’s sitting by the bar-counter instead of standing on the other side serving her customers.

 

“I’m pregnant, so Sumi-chin will be taking over until I’m done.” Itori explains and Shiori’s eyes widen before she hugs the woman.

 

“Oh my god, congratulations! Who’s the father?”

 

“No idea.” The human pauses and pulls back to look at Itori, a frown twisting her pretty features. “It’s either U-chan or Ren-chan, obviously. But the only times we’ve forgotten protection is twice, when we were all, well, _together._ ”

 

“Well, which one…?” Shiori trails off, not quite able to properly ask which one it was who had been intimate with her.

 

“Oh those two can go several times in one session, and we did it so many times on both occasions so I got no idea.” Shiori blushes at the information before hiding her face behind her hands.

 

“Too much information, Itori-san.”

 

“Really? But you asked.” Itori knows this but can’t help but tease the human. She honestly doesn’t know who the father is between the two though. She’ll figure it out when it’s over and done with. But she didn’t tell the human just to tease her with intimate information. She actually has something important to talk with her about and she hopes for the human’s approval.

 

“Nee, Shiori-san, can I ask you something?”

 

“Hm?”

 

“We were wondering if… If it’s a girl, we wondered if we could name her Shiori? Would that be okay with you?” The human is speechless for a long while, just staring at Itori with wide eyes.

 

“You… want to name her after me?”

 

“Mhm, yeah.” Shiori is a blubbering mess in a matter of seconds, falling over the ghoul and hugging her tightly. Itori is surprised because she honestly did not expect such a tearful yet happy reaction. In all reality she had just expected Shiori to smile at her and either say yes or give her a reason as to why she doesn’t want the baby to be named after her. The redhead feels a warmth in her chest as she hugs the woman back, smiling brightly. This human has become so important, and it all started with her originally being picked up as dinner. Itori doesn’t like humans, but Shiori is the exception.

 

“I’ll take that as a yes, then?”

 

“U-huh!” The woman asks Itori if she can help her buy baby clothes and help make everything ready. Itori tells her that Renji and Uta has already started on making the preparations, which is a bit silly because she hasn’t started to show yet.

 

“But I’d like for you to help me shop for clothes.” Itori will shop based on it being a girl, and if it’s a boy, well babies don’t talk much anyway and will quickly grow out of their clothes.  

 

“Any hospital trips the other two can’t go with you on?”

 

“Ah, no.” Itori waves her hand, grinning. “They’ll both be there for that. They wouldn’t dare miss it.” There will not be any hospital visits, because she is a ghoul, but she can’t tell Shiori this. Instead she tells her she’ll keep her updated. Fukui has done this several times before, she works as well, if not better, than any human equipment for this sort of thing.

 

There are many things about a pregnancy that catches the ghouls off guard.

 

The craving for food quickly grows a bit out of hand. Itori is used to eating once a month if she isn’t indulging herself, but now she grows hungry after a week, sometimes just days. The two males had been dreading the mood swings that were sure to show, but they aren’t half as bad as her cravings. Uta’s beloved jar of eyes were gone in just a week. He still jokingly mourns its loss just to tease her. More often than not she throws something after him and says it might as well be his fault, or that he can take it up with Renji.

 

“That’s normal.” Fukui tells them when Itori and Uta visit her with questions.

 

“You’re nurturing a life inside of you and it needs food too. Everything you eat is divided between you and the baby so of course you need to eat more than you usually do. And you and Renji-kun better supply her with enough food, because if the CCG finds out about a pregnant ghoul they won’t rest before they get her.” The old ghoul points a wrinkled finger at Uta. While Itori knows this, having Fukui say it doesn’t make her feel any less worried about it, it actually makes her a bit anxious. The CCG is out to kill all ghouls, and what better way is there than to make sure a ghoul is never born?

 

“Of course.” Uta says, grabbing Itori’s hand under the table, squeezing reassuringly. Neither he nor Renji has any intention of letting Itori hunt on her own when she grows heavy, but until then they can’t force her to keep inside any of their apartments. She’s just barely showing a baby bump so neither of the two have grown overprotective just yet, well not any more protective than they already are. Even so, while it is barely showing, Uta enjoys curling around Itori and resting his cheek against the bump. Renji always has this look of wonder on his face whenever he touches it. It’s nice and reassuring and she thoroughly spoiled by the two of them the whole way. Any worries she had has vanished under their attentive care and she thought that if they are so good with her, then she has no worries for the baby.

 

She doesn’t grow as big as she had feared but learns from Fukui that it is the same way for ghouls as it is for humans. The first-time-mothers don’t grow extremely big, and she’s thankful for that because that makes Uta’s harem pants and Renji’s shirts usable for a while, until she is forced to buy maternity clothes. Shiori has a blast during that little shopping trip and dresses Itori up in clothes the read-head would never have imagined herself ever wearing. They dump their bags at Itori’s apartment, and Itori changes as Shiori packs her a small bag of the new clothes and they head to Uta’s shop, where Itori dumps the bag by his chair and he just stares. The slight twitch of his mouth makes her narrow her eyes at him.

 

“Laugh.” She says darkly. “I _dare_ you.” He holds his hands up in a peaceful gesture and gets up, carrying her bag upstairs while asking Shiori if she wants anything to drink.

 

“No thank you. I just wanted to make sure Itori-san got here safely.” The human says before hugging the pregnant ghoul goodbye and tells Uta to take properly care of her. As if he and Renji weren’t doing that already.

 

Unfortunately, they can’t be with her at all times. Renji has a job and a responsibility for Anteiku and its customers and Uta has his shop. Sumi is kind enough to watch the bar for her and take responsibility for it to keep her from stressing too much and Kado is the designated Itori-sitter. While she is less than pleased with the title Uta jokingly gave their comrade, she is thankful for having him follow her. It makes her days a bit easier. And it is an easy compromise to be able to walk around whenever she wants to because being cooped up in their apartments is not the way to go for her. Dressed in a dungaree and one of Renji’s t-shirts which do nothing to hide her swelled stomach, she enjoys the fresh evening air while on their way to Fukui to visit.

 

“Neeh, Kado-chin?”

 

“What is it, Itori-san?”

 

“Why are you and Sumi-chin still following U-chan? He’s no longer the peacemaker.”

 

“He’s still our boss.”

 

“No, he’s no longer-“

 

“He’s the only boss. He did good by the fourth ward.” Itori agrees with Kado on that and stops with her questions. Instead she beams at him like the ray of sunshine she symbolizes to the ghouls closest to her and enjoys the nice evening, the darkening, cloud-free sky and the smell of mouth-watering flesh around her. She grows hungry again and asks Kado to bring her some food, anything will do, she tells him. She waits in the alley as Kado moves to bring back food. She can feel her kakugan shimmering, the veins protruding her skin and she hears steps, but keeps her head down because it isn’t Kado who’s approaching her. It’s a human and she recognizes the foul smell of tampered ghoul. It’s an investigator.

 

“Miss, what are you doing back here?” It’s a woman too, blast it.

 

“Waiting for a friend.” She replies honestly. She wonders if she should turn and walk away or if that will make the Dove suspicious. Said woman has come closer now, and Itori can see through the curtain of her hair that she’s trying to see her face, a worried frown crossing her face.

 

“Are you okay? You shouldn’t be in such a shady part of town in your condition.” How quickly will that concern turn to bloodlust if Itori raises her head, she wonders.

 

 _‘Kado-chin, now would be a good time to come back to me.’_ She thinks as she readies herself to lunge at the woman before she can realize that she is facing a ghoul, but just as the Dove is within her reach, her body betrays her. Something wet trails down her legs and pain shoots through her, so badly that she falls against the wall of the building she had been by, her legs buckling under her weight. Why, oh why, is her body always betraying her at the worst of times?

 

“Miss?”

 

“My water broke.” Itori mumbles to herself, but the Dove heard her and produces a phone from her pocket.

 

“I’m going to call the ambulance, okay?” No, it is not okay, but Itori can’t make her body move, oh wait, the pain has passed. She shoves the investigator away from her when she tries to help her up, but she can’t do much more than that. The pain may have passed but she can’t quite move like she wants to.

 

“You need to go to a hospital.”

 

“Kado-chin, now’s the time to come back.” Itori groans. Somehow her kagune feels unsteady, she can’t quite bring herself to form it properly. She realizes with horror that it’s not coming out, and she doesn’t understand why.

 

“Kado? Is that your-“

 

“Leave me alone!” Itori snaps, keeping her head down. She needs time to think, because she has to get rid of the human soon, because she doesn’t know how far between the contractions are. If it the woman in front of her wasn’t a Dove it would have been easy, but she _is_ a Dove and the moment she sees Itori’s kakugan she will attack without hesitation. She hears a second set of footsteps, hurried, and smells Kado. About time, she wants to think, but she’s the one who sent him off to find food in the first place. The investigator notices too and turns.

 

“Ghoul!” Itori sees the suitcase being lifted and grabs the human’s ankle. The human turns and her brown eyes widen at the sight of Itori’s narrowed kakugan.

 

“Don’t you dare!” She yanks her down and Kado rips her head off before she can deploy her quinque. The investigator drops to the ground and Kado kneels beside Itori.

 

“What’s wrong?”

 

“I think I’m in labour. Get-“ She doubles over, gritting her teeth, before exhaling. “Get me to Fukui-san.” She pleads, and the ghoul scoops her up as she fumbles with her phone and picking his out of his pocket, calling both Renji and Uta at the same time. They answer almost at the same time too, and that is the best thing that has happened to her all day.

 

“Yo-“

 

“My water broke!” She says hurriedly. “Kado-chin is taking- _ngh!_ Kado-chin is taking me to Fukui-san- _don’t_ make me do this alone, _please, please, don’t make me do this alone!”_ She begs and hears commotion on both ends.

 

“Please, Renji, Uta, don’t make- _rgh!”_ She nearly drops both phones as another contraction hits her, but she doesn’t get the time to try and talk to them again as Kado knocks furiously on the door to Fukui’s little orphanage, nearly breaking it down in his haste. The door is quickly opened, and Nana stand there confused for all but a second before she lets Kado carry Itori in.

 

“She’s in labour!”

 

“Boil water and fetch some towels!” The old ghoul appears out of nowhere, ushering Kado up the stairs and into her own bedroom. The ghoul carrying her is careful when he lowers Itori onto the bed. The older children run in with the requested items with Nana at the front, and they deposit the water and towels by the nightstand before they scurry out. It’s obvious they’ve done this before, and Kado slips out when Fukui helps Itori out of her dungarees and underwear before covering her lower half with a blanket.

 

“Are they here yet?” Itori whimpers as Fukui lifts the blanket some time later to see how far she’s progressed. She’s widening quickly, as Fukui had expected. Fukui knows humans can use days to bring a life into the world, but it is a much quicker process for ghouls. For Itori it must feel like a lot of time had passed, but in all reality, barely thirty minutes has gone by.

 

“Not yet, I’m afraid. We’ll have to start soon.”

 

“Not- no, I don’t want to-“

 

“We’ll have to, my dear. The baby comes when it comes. It can be dangerous to hold it back.”

 

“I don’t _want to do this alone!_ I can’t, Fukui-san.” The ginger sobs. Nana does her best to brush Itori’s hair out of her face and console her as she dabs her with a cool cloth. She’s not very successful. Itori’s never done this before and she’s scared, as many other mothers-to-be have been.

 

“You can. They’re probably right around the corner, but you must begin soon whether or not they’re here.” The elderly woman says. The redhead whimpers, hands clutching the sheets tightly. She doesn’t want to, because Renji and Uta promised they’d be there with her every step of the way. This is the biggest step during the entire pregnancy and they are missing it. They’re not there to support her when she needs them the most.

 

“I’m scared.” She admits it out loud, gritting her teeth as another contraction hits her.

 

“I know that too, Itori-chan. I was too, but you’ll be fine.”

 

“I want them _here!”_ She feels a sense of panic as Fukui grabs the blanket and her breath hitches. The older ghoul notices and moves up to her, grabbing her cheeks and making her look her in the eyes.

 

“I know you’re scared. I know you want your mates here, but you must understand that if you don’t let this progress naturally, you’ll risk both your baby’s life and yours. You’re not alone, Itori-chan. Me and Nana-chan will be here with you, every step of the way.” The pregnant ghoul furrows her brows deeper, still scared and unable to properly breathe.

 

“Itori-nee.” Nana grabs her hand and the ghoul moves her eyes her way. “They’ll be here soon. Uta-nii and Renji-san wouldn’t dare miss this, because they know you’ll beat the crap out of them later.” Itori hiccups a laugh, because even though Nana’s words are only half-true, it makes her feel better.

 

“Don’t let go.” The pregnant ghoul says, tightening her hold on the teenager’s hand.

 

“I won’t.” Nana promises as Fukui pulls up the blanket to rest over Itori’s waist as she spreads and bends her legs. Almost ready now, she notes.

 

“Take a few deep breaths, fill your lungs with air.” Fukui instructs and Itori does as told, already knowing she won’t be able to do so later. It hurt enough for her to want to scream now, she knows it will be worse. By the time Fukui’s ready to tell Itori to begin pushing the door is almost broken down as her lovers’ barge through.

 

“Itori-“

 

“Sunshine-“

 

“Be quiet!” Fukui snaps as Itori tosses her head back, biting her lips to stifle a pained groan.

 

“Nana-chan, come here. You two no-good snot-nosed brats, hold her hands and support her!” The old lady is usually so calm and patient, so to hear her snap at them in such a vicious manner cause the two male ghouls to freeze in place for a second. Then in the next they are on each side of Itori, holding her hands tightly in their own.

 

“You’re late!” Itori whimpers as a contraction ripple through her again. She feels better now that they are here, but she wants them to know that this is not okay regardless.

 

“Sorry, we came as quickly as we could.” Uta apologises. Renji says nothing, just brings her hand to his mouth, placing featherlight kisses on her knuckles to apologize and reassure her that they are here now and they’re not going anywhere. Nana has passed the cool cloth to Uta, telling him to keep wiping away the sweat as they wait for the process to properly begin as she takes her place beside Fukui. Neither of the two have ever seen Itori in so much pain and both are at a loss of what to do, glancing at each other. Fortunately Fukui and Nana have done this before and know exactly what to do.

 

“Itori-chan, you need to follow my instructions now.” For Itori it feels like an eternity passes between each time Fukui tells her to push. She can’t focus properly and only her boyfriends’ presence is comforting her. And angering her. One of them is responsible for this agony. She focuses on the fury and uses it to get herself through this ordeal.

 

“One of you… are… so _dead!”_ She screams as she pushes, tightening her hold on them until she’s sure she can hear a crack. No one is complaining so she guesses she’s imagining it. Uta is throwing Renji a small comforting grin as the other man’s features twists.

 

“You’re doing well, Itori-chan. The head is out.” Fukui instructs her to take short sharp breaths and to carefully push. If it had been painful before, it is agonizing now.

 

“You’re almost done, sunshine.” She can hear Uta mutter. “You’re doing so good.”

 

“Almost… Almost.” And then she falls slack against the pillows as a cry pierces the air, her tight grip on the males’ hands loosening as Fukui produces a clamp and ties the cord before she hands the baby over to her mother. She’s tired and sweaty and the shirt clings to her skin, but she reaches for the baby.

 

 _Her_ baby.

 

“Here. It’s a girl.” She tells them softly and Renji helps Itori sit up. The redhead swallows and shakily accepts the tiny little ghoul. The baby stops crying the moment Itori’s fingertips brush over her forehead. She squints up at them and the new mother can’t help but giggle at the slow movements of the girl’s arms waving about.

 

“Hey there.” She whispers. With the baby squinting they can’t quite see her eyes, but the soft dark strands of hair on the top of her head reveals a lot. The little girl is Uta’s, but she will be lucky enough to have two fathers. And she’s beautiful, fragile and tiny but so beautiful. Itori may be biased, but the little girl in her arms is the prettiest and most precious baby she’s ever laid her eyes on.

 

“We’re your mommy and daddies.” She can’t seem to stop the tears as she rubs her nose against the girl’s cheek. The infant gives a happy gurgle just before Fukui produces her kagune and carefully cuts the cord. Then she carefully eases the baby out of Itori’s arms so she can properly wash her. The ginger almost protests, leaning forward before slumping against the bed. Neither Uta nor Renji seem to be able to look away from the baby themselves, even as they stay by their mate’s side. Nana alerts them to the last part of the birth and they look down at her.

 

“Not quite done yet, Itori-nee. You need to push the placental out.” The teenager wraps her fingers around the cord and begins to tug carefully. It is much easier to rid herself of the last burden than to give birth to the baby, fortunately, but once Nana is done and the organ is removed, Fukui returns with the little ghoul, clean and wrapped in a blanket. Itori eagerly pulls the baby back in her arms, giggling to herself as she sees the tiny face scrunch together.

 

“She will be hungry soon. I’d like you to stay a few days, Itori-chan, just to be on the safe side.” The female nods, also wanting to stay for just a little while longer with the more experienced ghoul. Besides, she does not feel the need to move for the next five years. Uta and Renji will just have to work around her and cater to her and the baby’s every need. With a small smile, the teenager and elderly lady left the newly-made parents for themselves. Itori thinks the two males are awfully quiet and she pries her eyes off of the infant and chances quick glances at them. Renji’s eyes are misty and she blinks before turning to look at Uta, but he buries his face in her shoulder before she can see his expression though she can feel a tremor go through him. They’re not keeping up any poker-face, which she had expected them to do, they are both thoroughly affected by everything. Right now she’s too happy and tired to tease them about it, but she tells herself to remember to poke fun at them later.

 

“She’s perfect.” Renji whispers and she can feel Uta nod.

 

“Yes, she is. Did you guys manage to make the apartments safe?”

 

“Only yours.” Uta’s voice is softer than usual as he lifts his head. “Maybe that’s good enough though. It’d be safer for you both in the fourteenth ward than the fourth.” Renji murmurs and she can’t help but nod.

 

“True.” She rocks the baby back and forth, not quite knowing why as the girl hasn’t protested, but it feels right. Uta reaches out as if to touch the child, but stopping just before the pads of his fingers actually touch her, hesitating, his brows creasing.

 

“She’s so small.” He’s scared he’ll hurt her because she _is_ tiny, and fragile as glass compared to her parents, but the baby reaches out from within the confines of her blanket she is wrapped up in and her tiny chubby fingers grab at his but are unable to actually get a good grip. It still makes his breath hitch though and he leans forward a bit more, blinking owlishly, red eyes shimmering. The girl likes that. Renji is a bit bolder and dares to actually run his fingers over her forehead lightly and she gurgles happily again.

 

“Your name is Shiori.” Itori whispers quietly and the baby makes a small noise.

 

“I think she likes it.” They all laugh quietly, so as not to break the moment. This very moment is one of the happiest they've ever experienced in their whole lives.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> God this was long. Sorry about that! The next chapter is the last, I hope you've all enjoyed it!


	11. Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They are a family, with a complete set of parents, children, nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles and a grandmother

A fifteen month old Shiori is hard to keep track off. Neither of the three can turn their backs on her for even a second before she shoots off on incredibly fast and short legs. Unfortunately for the little girl though, she’s not all that proficient in bending her knees when she runs, so she often falls over. They all thought it was incredibly exciting when she took her first steps, Renji freaked out when she fell over the first time, but Itori managed to shove him away and beam at the baby before she could see her father’s face and then she giggled too. The first time she fell flat on her face when running though, they had all three frozen on the spot, worried that she had hurt herself this time. None of them manages to reassure her in time and the wail that tears through the air hurts their sensitive ears.

 

“I’ve got you, kiddo.” Itori sweeps her up and paces around the apartment, rocking the girl until she stops crying. Shiori never cries for long, and she sticks her thumb in her mouth and rests her cheek against her mother’s shoulder, sniffling as she calms down and realizes that she is not hurt. She yawns and snuggles closer, peach coloured eyes drooping and Itori leans back but is unable to actually see her daughter’s face. She can hear her breathing even out though and the girl grows heavier. She is falling asleep and Itori heads to her bedroom where the crib is situated. She rocks her little girl until she has fallen into a deep sleep before carefully putting her down and pulling the covers over her.

 

“And you were afraid you’d be a bad mom.” She turns and sees Uta stand in the doorway, arms crossed and back resting against the frame.

 

“I never had anyone to look back on and learn from.” She says quietly as she pushes him outside and leaves the door open by a tiny crack.

 

“You had Fukui-san.” Renji says from his spot on the couch and Itori pauses. Indeed, she does have Fukui, and she learned a lot unconsciously by visiting Nana often. And Fukui visits her often now too, to check in on her and Shiori, and to rant to the fathers and make sure they’re doing their share of the work too. She doesn’t have anything to fear though. Renji has made his residence in Itori’s apartment permanent for a while now as he mostly work during nights anyway. Uta sleeps over every now and then, but mostly stays close to his shop because of the increase of requests as the CCG doubles its efforts to exterminate ghouls. Itori has to visit him if he wants a chance to interact with Shiori while she’s awake and she frowns at the sight of the dark rings starting to form around his eyes.

 

“Take a break.” She says and gives him Shiori before she marches up the stairs to brew coffee for him and to cut up some meat for Shiori to chew on. She had started to fuss on the way over and Itori is glad she’s got a driver’s license and Renji’s car because the girl’s eyes had turned red. When she descends the stairs she hears Shiori laugh and she sees Uta bounce the girl on his knee, making faces at her. Itori’s had done a double take the first time that happened, because Uta expresses himself with his eyes and the curl of his lip, a barely there crease of his brows. For Shiori he makes an exception though and it warms Itori’s heart. She sets the mug on his desk and the plate alongside it, fastening the bib around Shiori’s neck. The girl chews enthusiastically on her food as her father drinks his coffee, taking the break he needs. The desk is covered in sketches and supplies, some of which she can see the finished products in opened boxes with sticky notes plastered to them. She wonders how many all-nighters he has pulled lately.

 

“Just a couple.” He says, like he’s reading her mind and she shakes her head.

 

“Don’t push yourself too much, U-chan.” She says and he shrugs, telling her that the quicker he finishes the requests, the sooner he can come visit and stay the night. Itori ponders this, knows that Uta wants to stay longer than just one night with Shiori. The fourth ward isn’t as bad as it used to be, but it is still a shitty place to live, unless you are as powerful as the trio is. Uta left his mark on the ward when he was the peacekeeper, and he is remembered even now. The new peacekeeper knows not to cross the man, especially since Uta is the only ghoul around to provide masks with records hidden so well the investigators will never be able to find them.

 

Uta’s shop is literally the safest place in the ward, now that she think about it. She grabs her phone and texts Renji to buy what she needs. He’s most likely still asleep, but he’ll see it when he wakes up and hurry to deliver.

 

“What are you doing?” Uta asks and Itori grins slyly. “I’m doing something nice.” He looks suspicious and she pouts.

 

“You’re thinking something bad.”

 

“Well, the last time you said you were doing me a favour-“

 

“That was _one_ time.” She rolls her eyes and wipes Shiori’s hands and face free from blood smears. The girl’s eyes scrunch up, she doesn’t like it when they do that, but Uta bounces his leg again and she giggles, annoyance quickly forgotten as her father plays with her. She lights up like sunlight whenever she sees her dark-haired father. Itori thinks it’s because lately she hasn’t seen him all that much.

 

“She misses you, you know.”

 

“Good to know someone misses me.” He teases, and she huffs. She misses him too, really, but she understands that he has a job only he can do well, but Shiori doesn’t. She’s just a baby who misses her dad.

 

“Well we visited for a reason.” She throws back just as her phone starts ringing.

 

“Hello? Ah, Shiori-san? Oh, no we’re at U-chan’s shop. Mhm, mhm, yeah, do come on over. U-chan’s busy with work anyway. Okay.”

 

“So, we’re getting visitors?”

 

“Mhm. You expecting anyone to retrieve their masks?”

 

“Three have been notified that their masks are done.” Which mean three ghouls will be by during opening hours. Itori thinks it’s best if she brings both baby and human up to Uta’s apartment then, to avoid any potential disastrous situations. Just then the door opens and the bell jingle and Uta hands Shiori over to Itori before he leaves to see who it is that entered. She hears polite pleasantries being exchanged and Uta calls out for her, asking if she can come out with a box addressed to Nakamura.

 

“Your dada can’t do anything on his own, can he?” She tells her daughter whose eyes crinkle. She does as asked though, balancing Shiori on her hip as she picks the box up and walks around the room divider, handing Uta the box. Shiori reaches for it but she falls short and pouts as it is brought out of her reach and given to the adult ghoul who had requested it. Uta pokes her nose and she hides her face in her mother’s chest, and Nakamura laughs a bit before pulling the mask out of the box.

 

“It looks great. Thank you, Uta-san.” He bows and moves to follow to the cash register. Shiori encourages her mother to walk closer to the walls and the mannequins so she can grope at the masks. She likes the creepiest ones the most, and Itori doesn’t know why but that alone is also turning out to prove just how much like Uta she is. Itori finds that incredibly adorable, and then the door opens again and the smell of human fills the room.

 

“Ah! Finally!” Itori looks up and laughs at the excited expression on the human Shiori’s face as she bounds up to the mother and baby ghoul.

 

“I can’t _believe_ my job sent me on the other side of the country for a whole year’s exchange program just after you gave birth to her!” The human grumbles. Itori laughs harder at that.

 

“We did do a few face-time calls, Shiori-san.”

 

“Yeah, but I’ve never met her in person before.” Itori shakes her head but shifts Shiori on her hips and turns so the baby faces the human.

 

“Shiori-chan, say hi Shiori _-san_ , your namesake.”

 

“Hi.” The girl waves shyly, resting her head against the crook of her mother’s neck.

 

“Oh, she can speak?!” Shiori squeals and the baby girl blinks her eyes widely and the human realizes just how much she resembles Uta in her mannerism right then.

 

“Yeah. She started being able to articulate words a month or so ago.”

 

“What was her first word?”

 

“Fox.”

 

“Fox?” The human blinks, not quite sure where the girl could have picked up on that. Most parents tried to teach their children to say mom or dad.

 

“She was climbing all over U-chan’s arm, and he was telling her about his tattoos when she grabbed at them. He’s got a fox hidden in there somewhere.” Itori shrugs and Shiori bounces in her arms and tries to climb up.

 

“Fox, fox!” She squeals and wriggles, wanting to be put down on the floor. Itori crouches down and lets the little girl run as she wishes. The human Shiori watches the girl dart back and forth, fruitlessly hiding behind mannequin stands, giggling to herself.

 

“Could you help me out, Itori-san? I need some advice and a companion on a shopping trip.” The redhead glances at her and nods with a smile before she puts on a thoughtful face and goes around the other mannequins and stands, looking behind them all, and little Shiori laughs some more as she runs around hiding. Human Shiori finds it absolutely adorable to watch.

 

“Oh Shioooori-chan? Where are you hiding?” Itori calls out and Shiori squeals as she’s suddenly thrown up in the air and falls into her father’s arm.

 

“Found you, princess.”

 

“Dada!” The customer from before is with him, and he bows to Uta before taking his box with him, eyeing the human as he leaves. Itori throws him a steely smile and he gets the picture. Shiori throws her arms up again, babbling excitedly and Uta throws her in the air again and again, much to her delight. She laughs louder the higher Uta tosses her and then, when he catches her again he cradles her with one arm and tickles her with his free hand. She trashes around, her laughter growing higher in pitch and her father shows mercy. She crawls up his chest and pats his shoulders and he moves her so she’s sitting on his shoulders, hands clutching his messy hair.

 

“U-chan, would you mind watching Shiori-chan for a few hours?” Itori asks and the mask maker tilts his head, eyes questioning. Shiori squeals as she never lets go of his hair and therefore suddenly almost slides off. A tattooed hand acting as a wall helps her keep her balance though.

 

“Shopping trip, and Shiori-chan will be needing her nap soon.”

 

“Yeah, shouldn’t be a problem.” He may be swamped with work, but he’ll put that aside at any time to spend some time with his daughter. And a few hours isn’t too bad for his work-load, especially if she’s going to need her nap soon anyway.

 

“What do you think, princess? Wanna spend time with your old man?” The ghoul nods vigorously and tugs on his hair excitedly. That answers everything, Itori thinks and plants a kiss on Uta’s mouth and tugs him down to kiss her daughter’s cheeks before she and the human Shiori leaves.

 

“He’s really good with her.” Shiori says as they get into Renji’s car.

 

“Mhm. He’s good with kids, despite most people saying his appearance would scare kids away. It’s really the other way around though, mostly every kid we’ve met thinks he’s interesting. So, where to first?”

 

Shiori has apparently come across a decent man, which is incredible because she hasn’t met someone worth keeping for years, and want to find herself a nice outfit for their next date, and she admits that she wants to help Itori find herself proper nice underwear.

 

“I gave birth fifteen months ago. I _do_ wear sexy underwear again.” The redhead claims but goes along with it anyway and smiles smugly when Shiori pouts about how she’s already slimmed down to appear just as she did before she got pregnant.

 

“Again, fifteen months ago.”

 

“What kind of super-digestion system do you have? What diets do you practice?” The human complains, but Itori only smiles secretively. There’s absolutely no way she’s ever going to tell Shiori that her diet consists of human meat once a month. Instead she indulges the dark-haired woman and buys the underwear the human made her try and helps her find an appropriate outfit for her next date. Shiori tells Itori how lucky she is to have two boyfriends who won’t leave her no matter what, and don’t have to try and doll herself into perfection when going on dates. It makes Itori think back on their relationship, and she realizes that the closest all of them had gotten to dating is actually hunting.

 

So no, she hasn’t had to doll herself up to impress anyone.

 

“You know what, I want to find something really impressive that will surprise them! Doll me up, Shiori-san!”

 

When Itori returns to Uta’s shop, Renji is there too, and little Shiori is playing with her plushie as her fathers are making the apartment above the shop safe for babies. She guesses Renji had been awake to read the text message she sent him after all. She smiles at the sight of them working on putting up the necessities as she drops her bags and scoops up her little girl who drops her plushie and wraps her arms around her mother’s neck as best she can.

 

“Mama!”

 

“Hey there, kiddo. How about we two take a bath while daddy and dada fix things up, hm?”

 

“Rude!” She hears Uta call out as she takes their daughter to the bathroom, filling it with water.

 

“She seems okay to you, doesn’t she?” Uta asks Renji as he looks over the instructions for the crib. How a simple bed for a baby can be so complicated to build he did not know. Did it seriously need forty screws? Why isn’t he just making the crib himself from scratch? What ungodly demon designed this contraption? This piece of shit instruction is the root to all evil, he’s damn sure of it. Renji grunts.

 

“You’re with them more than I am. You haven’t seen any signs of depression, have you?” There’s not a trace of jealousy or bitterness in Uta’s voice, and Renji shakes his head without looking up from the safety grid he’s fastening in front of the door to the stairs leading to the shop. Uta is rarely over because of his profession, that is the choice he made, but he made that choice long before Itori ever became pregnant. Renji can’t fault him for being available for other ghouls to commission masks for their safety. What Uta’s doing is honourable, the silver-haired ghoul thinks, and he admires him for it, for using his talents to help others.

 

So of course he went and bought all the items necessary to baby proof the artist’s apartment when Itori texted him earlier. Because Renji doesn’t think Uta should be punished for working on something he’s passionate about, especially not when it helps others of their kind from being exposed to the human society.

 

“She asked me to do this for you, you know.”

 

“I kinda got that.” Uta responds, dropping the instructions and glares at the pieces in his hands. Putting together a crib really should not be so damn hard. How had he done this the first time? He drops the pieces and shuffles until he’s facing Renji, or the hot goodness that is his muscled back and perfect ass wrapped up in clothes that stretch incredibly tight across his skin when he crouches down like that. The dark-haired ghoul is getting distracted. He shakes his head and crawls over to lean his back against the wall by the door.

 

“I appreciate the thought.”

 

“She’s your daughter, you should be able to spend more time with her.” Renji says as he tests how well the grid is stuck to the doorframe.

 

“She’s just as much yours as she’s mine.” It warms the taller ghoul to hear Uta say that, because sometimes, even though neither Itori nor Uta ever makes him think so, _he_ thinks that he’s less important to Shiori than the other two assure him that he is. Shiori always smiles when he picks her up, but still, she looks so much like Uta. Renji isn’t jealous, nor bitter, but he needs to be reassured at times still. One would think being in a relationship for so many years would have removed any such need.

 

“Still, you should be able to spend more time with her.” Renji says again and lets go of the grid, satisfied, and turns his head towards Uta. “That’s more than okay with you, I know.”

 

“Yup.” Uta grins, one of those wide smiles he doesn’t show often anymore, not since he coloured his hair black again and Renji moved to the twentieth ward. Renji smiles faintly too and sits down beside the mask maker, grabbing his hand and linking their fingers. No more words are said, because they’re more comfortable in the silence now. They can hear Itori and Shiori in the bathroom, Shiori squealing and then water splashing and Itori’s happy laughter too.

 

“She’s really happy.” Uta murmurs, closing his eyes and resting his head against the wall, soaking in the sounds of his mate and daughter. He still remembers how Itori was when he first found her, and those cold hard eyes she possessed back then are now lighter, mischievous and gorgeous. He’s no poet, and Renji is clumsy with his words on a good day, but they both agree that, not counting their little girl, Itori is by far the most beautiful and lively creature they’ve ever come across.

 

“We’ve become saps.” He adds afterwards, earning a quiet chuckle from Renji. They’ve calmed down considerably since their teenage years. He remembers how they fought all the time, how they fought _once_ after becoming friends and Itori dragging them back by the scruff of their necks because they both had mangled the other’s legs so bad they actually had to stay in bed for two days to heal properly. They still haven’t told her what caused that fight, and looking back on it, it is really silly and not worth mentioning again. Uta can say he misses those days, but he doesn’t want to trade what he has now for anything.

 

“I’m getting old, Renji-kun.”

 

“You’re not even thirty.” Uta laughs at the blank comeback and rests his head on the other male’s shoulder. True, they’re not even thirty, but most ghouls are unlucky enough to be killed during their twenties, so all in all, they are getting old. How their species have managed to survive until now is kind of a mystery to Uta, but he guesses that most children who are either abandoned or orphaned just grit their teeth and do whatever it is they can to survive. He certainly did, when he realized no one was coming back for him.

 

But he doesn’t care that they didn’t come back for him, because he’s got Itori, Renji and Shiori, and they are never leaving him, this he knows for certain. All in all, he thinks his life turned out for the better because of that day despite some of the hardships he had gone through.

 

“Where’d you go?” He blinks at the hand waving in front of his face and sighs.

 

“Sorry, my mind wandered. What were you saying?”

 

“You’re not done with the crib yet?” They look up to see Itori, clad in only a towel, holding their sleeping daughter.

 

“I’ll get right on that.” Uta says and climbs to his feet, Renji right behind him. Itori just shakes her head and goes to the bedroom, settling the baby in the middle of the bed and fishing out a tank-top and a pair of sweats from Uta’s drawer before laying down beside Shiori, watching her sleep. She had a nice day out with the human Shiori, got a lot of stuff she is going to try out later, but first she needs to get the little baby in her crib, that is, if the two out there can figure out the manual for a second time. Half an hour later Uta pops his head in and Itori carefully picks the girl up and brings her to the second bedroom in the apartment, which had once been her room, then Renji’s, and now stood empty.

 

But now it will be Shiori’s room at her father’s shop. It’s nice. The walls will have to be repainted in lighter colour at some point, but they’ll deal with that later. This is just so Uta can be with Shiori more often until he’s managed to whittle down his work-load. She places the girl in the bed, and the three parents stare at her for a moment.

 

“Are we ever going to stop being awed of her?” Itori asks and both male’s answer a negative. They really are not. They turn on the baby monitor and leave the room before heading to the living room.

 

“Oh, take a seat, I want to show you what I bought!” She tells them and pushes them onto the couch. They stare after her and Uta turns towards Renji, propping himself up against the arm-rest.

 

“Too bad. I enjoyed watching her prance around in my clothes.” Renji rolls his eyes, but doesn’t deny the statement. He can’t say he’s not guilty of liking the sight of Itori wearing his t-shirts when she was pregnant. They wait for quite a while before Itori walk back out and they blink. It’s nothing like Itori usually wears, before and after the pregnancy that is. The dress is white, with a high neck, the arms of it barely cover her shoulder and reach her knees with a single embroidery of a few pink lotus flowers at the bottom right side of the dress and a black pantyhose beneath. It’s a lot less revealing than what she usually wears, and she is utterly adorable in it. Uta hasn’t seen her wearing something like this since she started expanding her ward-robe from double sized hoodies when they were teens and Renji hasn’t seen her wear something like this at all, so they are both rather stunned. She twirls and beams at them, waiting expectantly for a response.

 

Both males are pretty much lost in the void at this point.

 

“Oh come on. I dolled myself up for you.” She pouts, crossing her arms. Renji is the first one to pull himself out of his thoughts and he shakes his head before waving her closer. She moves around the table and plops herself into his lap, laying her legs across Uta’s lap, reclining back against them.

 

“Why’d you ‘doll yourself up’? Not that I don’t appreciate it.” The silver-haired ghoul wraps his arms around her middle and rests his chin on her shoulder. Itori reaches behind her and treads her finger through his hair.

 

“Mm, well, Shiori-san needed help finding an outfit, and I realized that despite how long we’ve all been together, we’ve never really been on a proper date and I’ve never made myself pretty for you either.” She shrugs as Uta finally snaps out of it and runs his hands up and down her legs. She smiles way too sweetly when he narrows his eyes at the fabric covering her legs and lifts her skirt.

 

“Uta, what the hell?” Renji demands but pauses when the mask maker drops the skirt and stares at Itori blankly.

 

“Stockings.” The other male groans behind Itori and she laughs.

 

“Shiori-san made me buy them.”

 

“Oh I’m sure you put up a lot of fight to avoid purchasing this scrap of silk.” Uta deadpans and her light giggle turns into a cackle. Suddenly they hear slight fussing from the monitor and they all freeze, waiting to hear Shiori cry out, but relaxes when no more sounds could be heard.

 

“So, let’s just watch some television yeah? And an evening snack?” The female ghoul suggests quietly and the other two agree. Uta grabs his beloved jar of eyes and fills a bowl with the organs, placing it on the table before pulling her legs into his lap again. They lower the volume of the tv and sit quietly, watching a human game show, laughing quietly at the silliness of the shows. The next morning Itori hears Shiori cry over the monitor, but before she can push herself up, someone else slips out of bed and shuffles towards the door. She can see a mop of black hair exit through the door and she falls back asleep again, curling up against Renji who’s sleeping heavily and straight through the crying which ceases quickly when she hears Uta’s quiet voice as well.

 

Uta turns off the monitor as he hums and rock his little girl back and forth, back and forth. She stares up at him with wide peach-coloured eyes and blink, before smiling widely, dimples forming cutely. He shuffles out to the living room, sitting down on the couch and pulling his legs up so he’s cocooned her away from the world entirely. She is precious, and he can’t get over how different everything feels now.

 

A good kind of different.

 

“You have no idea how happy I am that I found your mother. Or that I befriended your daddy instead of mai- well, you’re too young to understand what I’m talking about.” He murmurs and she reaches out to catch a few stray strands of his hair, tugging playfully. He chuckles, and she laughs with him, the sound high pitched and loud. He worries that they’re waking up the other two, but he hears no movement from his bedroom, so he shrugs the thought away. Instead he spends the ungodly early hours of this morning to shower his little girl with love and affection, because he wants her to know she’s loved. He wants her to know that he’ll never leave her, never abandon her, like he was. He wants her to know he’ll protect her from anyone who dares to try and hurt her, like Itori was. He wants her to know that no matter what happens, she’ll have a place to return to, as Renji did.

 

They’re a family, a complete set of parents, a daughter and niece in Touka and nephew in Ayato, Shiori has an aunt in Nana and a grandmother in Fukui.

 

“I can’t wait until I can make you a mask, a mask which will be perfect and just for you.” He murmurs. There is so much they need to teach her as she grows and he looks forward to all of it. There are a few rules he absolutely will not have her break though.

 

“I’m probably going to be very lax with you, but there are a few basic rules you’ll not be allowed to break. Never go outside without bringing your mask, don’t start unnecessary fights, just finish them.” He pauses and thinks about how he is literally telling her to _not_ do what he did when he was young. He isn’t the greatest role-model, but he’ll have to do.

 

“Oh, and by the way, this is the most important rule ever and if you break it you’ll break my heart.” He tells her while standing up, heading towards the fridge to find some meat to cut up for her to eat.

 

“No dating until you’re thirty.” She scrunches her face and makes a noise of complaint and he levels her with a blank stare.

 

“Don’t give me that look. I won’t budge on this.”

 

“Keh!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've never been good with endings, but this is it. I hope you enjoyed the story! I'll put up a second part filled with tiny tidbits that didn't make it into the main story :D


End file.
